Shuhita Bhattacharjee received her PhD in English from the University of Iowa in 2015. Currently, she works as an assistant professor of English literature & gender studies and affiliated professor of design at Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad in India. In a recent interview, she reflected on her time at Iowa and current career working in higher education.  

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

I teach English literature, gender studies, and design history. Starting with my years at Iowa, my interest lay in the field of nineteenth-century studies and postsecular theory. This past year has been exciting with me getting my first monograph (postsecular theory) out of the oven and onto book stacks. As I sheepishly watch the copies turn dogeared in libraries, I continue to sculpt my second book that deals with the fin-de-siècle representation of colonial idols. With a UK Research and Innovation research grant, I am spearheading the South Asia chapter of a virtual Nineteenth-Century Diversities Research Network that will form a transnational collaborative platform for scholars working in the area. As a scholar working on the long nineteenth century, the South Asian diaspora, and postsecular theory, I reflect often on how Iowa has formed the bed rock of my training where I discovered both the bent of my scholarly interests and the ways of professional networking.  

"I had completed my Bachelors, Masters, and MPhil in English before joining Iowa. Yet this is the place where I found my academic voice and scholarly bearings. The institution shaped me in crucial ways as an instructor by giving me the opportunity to design my courses from scratch."

Why did you choose Iowa to pursue your graduate studies? 

Iowa was always an inspiring place to be, with its community of scholars from across English, creative writing, and history. Its vibrant campus, with a Women's Resource and Action Center and the South Asian Studies Program, and the wonderfully, experimental Theatre Department,  led me to gravitate naturally toward this space. The offer came from my core department which had some of the most established scholars of my field with whom I was excited to work, with one key expert in the Department of History. I was offered a combination of academic advisory and teaching duties that promised me exposure which was likely to come in very handy later in a faculty position. Already on my way to Iowa, I had begun talking to people within International Programs that made me feel not only welcome but instrumental.  

How did Iowa prepare you to be a professor?

I had completed my Bachelors, Masters, and MPhil in English before joining Iowa. Yet this is the place where I found my academic voice and scholarly bearings. The institution shaped me in crucial ways as an instructor by giving me the opportunity to design my courses from scratch. Getting to teach my specialization at a moment when I wore two hats - that of a teacher and a student - allowed me to think intuitively about what may most benefit college students. And this ultimately fed into my understanding of what innovative, inclusive, ethical, and compassionate pedagogy may look like. I built modules that spoke to students from across core and allied departments, learning to frame information and analysis in the form of group exercises and class presentations.  

"I am the product of two major cosmopolitan cities in India that shaped my ways for 25 years before I journeyed across the seas. Yet to this day, one of my favorite fridge magnets that greets me every morning reads: 'I am an Iowa City girl!'"

We found the following quote from you on the internet. Can you tell us more about this? 

“Alongside my academic interests, I have worked extensively in the social sector at national and international levels in areas such as violence against HIV-positive women, sex education, and workplace anti- sexual harassment laws in educational institutions. This has in many ways shaped the core of my identity as a socially conscious academic and has contributed both to the pedagogical and the administrative techniques that I employ in institutions of higher learning.”  

Before arriving in Iowa City, I had been working on HIV and violence against women and prevention of domestic violence. My time at Iowa was constitutive in this regard. I found myself often at the Women's Resource and Action Center. This approach also found a way into my pedagogical approach as I worked actively to incorporate social action into my teaching of literature. I would make sure to teach plays that were being performed by the Theatre Department and welcomed production teams from Iowa to class to initiate and encourage socially conscious ways of reading literature. 

A significant part of my current work is located in the social sector and takes off from issues on which I started working while at Iowa - school sexuality education and prevention of sexual harassment in workplaces. I am now working through an Indian Council for Social Science research grant towards designing graphic novels that will function as sexuality education textbooks for adolescents that will address intimate partner violence, incest abuse, and online sexual abuse. 

Do you have any advice for international students at Iowa? 

Iowa is an invigorating place to be, and the activities organized by International Programs  loop students into the many cultural tides they see around. Additionally, to repeat the advice given by our department chair once, for graduate students, it is a good idea to develop a hobby, which creates unique networks of friendship and unexpected channels of support. It is also a great idea to travel over breaks, and to collaborate with students across different departments at events and round-the-corner pubs. Spend time at Prairie Lights over books and coffee. And if you are a culture aficionado like me, grab season tickets to the plays on the Theatre Department's calendar. Do not miss exam season delights - the free pancake breakfast at IMU or therapy dogs in the library, such warm, fuzzy loveliness is hard to find elsewhere! I even did pizza- and cake-baking classes at the local co-ops while on a roll for solitary fun. Missing out on the vibrant food scene would be a crime - I kept my pangs and plate satiated with global cuisines. Keep an eye out for institutional fundings and awards - bagging one of those is really prestigious and looks excellent on a resume. While immersing yourself in work, invest in lifelong experiences that Iowa makes accessible for international students in relatable and affordable ways. I am the product of two major cosmopolitan cities in India that shaped my ways for 25 years before I journeyed across the seas. Yet to this day, one of my favorite fridge magnets that greets me every morning reads: "I am an Iowa City girl!" 

International Programs (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement.  IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who study, intern, or do research abroad, and provides funding opportunities and grant-writing assistance for faculty engaged in international research. IP shares their stories through various media, and by hosting multiple public engagement activities each year.