(By Aleina Smith ’27, staff writer)
An associate professor of English at LVC took a sabbatical leave to India for the 2024-25 academic year to do research on the disappeared people of Kashmir.
Dr. Shayani Bhattacharya took her paid leave gifted by LVC to do archival research in the National Library of India. This specific research on the representation of these disappeared people in national media in the 1990s related back to her book project on the similar topic.
Kashmir, a region in India, has been facing conflict for over half a century. India, Pakistan and China have been in an intense territorial dispute over it. With Kashmir recently losing its statehood, this research topic became quite controversial.
“Despite the various political parties that have held power in India’s central government over the decades, the Indian mainstream media has overwhelmingly toed a nationalistic line in its representation of the crisis,” Bhattacharya said. “It was very interesting to contrast that with news coverage from the Kashmir Valley itself.”
Bhattacharya went on to mention that she will be using this research in her ENG 422 class, Literature Under/Against Oppression. In one module, the class will discuss India after it gained its independence from British colonization.
“Using my research from the sabbatical, the class will read reports from journalists, Kashmiri writers, and discuss a Bollywood adaptation of ‘Hamlet’ set in Kashmir,” she said. “I am really looking forward to seeing how the class discusses the issue of nation and sovereignty.”
However, this research goes beyond being used as teaching material. While Bhattacharya does mention the importance of applying her research to her classrooms, it goes much deeper for her.
“Research is the most defining aspect of my academic life,” she said. “It is not only what I have trained in for years, but also something that gives me great joy and meaning.”
Bhattacharya still discussed how research and teaching go hand in hand as a professor.
“To me, research and teaching are two sides of the same coin—without one, the other loses its meaning,” she said.
Without this ability to go to India and be able to conduct this hands-on research in the archives, Bhattacharya wouldn’t have been able to maintain the meaning to her writing either. This sabbatical gave many opportunities for her to successfully present her research.
“During my sabbatical, I presented new research at three conferences and gave five separate talks. I also wrote three journal articles, one of which is forthcoming in a collection on Time Travel from ‘McFarland Books’,” Bhattacharya said.
Despite these huge achievements, Bhattacharya mentioned that one of the most important pieces for her in her sabbatical was getting to spend so much time in her home country. She loved the diverse food, as well as travelling across the UK.
Back to campus and back in the classroom, Bhattacharya is excited to implement her new research in her teaching and see how her students expand on it.