Fostering critical analysis for text, film and media

Arnav Adhikari, incoming assistant professor of English at Mount Holyoke College, believes in mingling classes. “I work in film and visual culture, so there will definitely be some cross-pollination between my classes,” he said. His curriculum encompasses a broad study of novels, political texts, theoretical criticism and film.

He’s keen to see how students apply their literary comprehension to the written word. “I’d like them to articulate what’s challenging and perplexing about the texts,” Adhikari said. He’s particularly interested in fostering their ability to critically analyze and discuss the graphic and creative elements within media.

Adhikari, who’s from New Delhi, India, earned his bachelor’s degree at Middlebury College in Vermont. Having experienced life at a small liberal arts college, he “felt an immediate, comforting sense of affiliation with the ethos and academic environment at Mount Holyoke College,” he said. “I was especially drawn to the flexibility and autonomy that faculty seem to have to teach and conduct research.”

When he visited last December to interview, Adhikari was energized by his brief interaction with students. He found it easy to converse with them, as they were “open and interested” in what he was thinking and curious about his teaching style.

“In fact, one of them asked a question that actually took me a second to respond to, and I followed up with them later because I didn't think I did justice to it during the talk,” he said. “Afterward, we talked about our research interests — everybody was very thoughtful, but also there was a lightness about them that was very welcoming.”

He received his job offer five days later. “The kindness, enthusiasm and intensity of inquiry that I felt during my campus visit and interactions with students left a lasting impression on me,” he said.

He’ll offer two courses this fall. The Graphic Novel will focus on graphic narratives across various genres, with a particular focus on autobiography and memoir. Discussions will cover photography, cinema, literary criticism and theory. The novels “Maus” and “Persepolis” are on the reading list, and the latter may include the film, illustrated by author Marjane Satrapi. “It's interesting to think about why the graphic form works the way it does versus what happens in the film, which is ostensibly the same illustration, the same style, but what changes when the medium is moving in this way,” Adhikari said.

Students will also read the graphic novel “Munnu” by Malik Sajad, which is “a coming-of-age story set in India-occupied Kashmir about an artist who may be the author,” and selections from “River of Stories” by Indian author Orijit Sen. The class is expansive and will incorporate thinkers and writers such as Michel Foucault and the graphic novel “Epileptic” by French artist and writer David Beauchard. “I like to mix it up to see if our thinking changes when we consider the image alongside text,” Adhikari said.

Self, World, Other: Reading the Global Anglophone, his second class, is an introduction to postcolonial literature, histories and theoretical discussions. Among the novels students will read are Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga’s “Nervous Conditions” and works by Indian writer Amitav Ghosh. Discussions will cover such topics as “What makes a community — politics, religion?” and “Are there different ways to create the kinds of worlds we understand?”

Translation is an indispensable element of his focus, as “a lot of the authors we're looking at have battled with what it means to write in English,” Adhikari said. Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiong'o “confronted it head-on,” he added. “So we may read his text on the abolition of the English department, his concept of decolonizing the mind, requiring, reclaiming and using African languages, [and] then we may read responses by Chinua Achebe on why writing in English is valuable.”

Adhikari’s approach is to empower students to shape their learning experience through contributions and questions. “I want to keep it open in that respect. I'm excited to see how students respond to what we read.”

Reflecting on when connections between different classes suddenly emerged for him, Adhikari wonders whether his two classes will have a similar effect on students. “Where the classes might, you know, specifically influence each other,” he said. “It would be a bonus if I have students taking both, and they are able to identify those moments as well.”

Adhikari has held fellowships from the Cogut Institute for the Humanities and the Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he received his doctorate.

When he isn’t researching or teaching, Adhikari enjoys exploring new running routes, expanding his vinyl collection, making late-night cinema trips and, of course, reading.