Faculty at School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Tulika Chandra

Tulika Chandra

Professor

School of Humanities and Social Sciences


Contact Information

My research interests include Translation Studies, Folk Literature, Narrative Structures, Storytelling as Pedagogy, Translation Process, Folkloristics, English Language Teaching, Digitization and Preservation of Folklore, English Language Teaching (ELT), Phonetics, Language Acquisition, and Business Communication. I have presented these interests at various Talks and International Conferences, such as American Folklore Annual Meetings since 2016, International Society of Folk Narratives Research, etc.  I am open to supervising doctoral projects that broadly align with my areas of research and interest. 

My current research focuses on Translation Studies and Folk literature. I am a folklore collector, and I am working on active projects: 'Documentation of Folktales through Digitization' and ‘Folk Genre of Rural Community Women: Patrons in Preservation of Folklore,’ Both projects are empirical research that employs oral folk expressions, with the purpose of exploring, collecting, and digitising the folklore collected from the folk of two regions: A. from an area popularly known as ‘Braj’ (Mathura and Barsana in UP) and B. from Gautam Buddha Nagar Western Uttar Pradesh, India. The research intends to explore and interpret traditional methodological and theoretical approaches to describe and analyze the development of the local Indian native folkloristic tradition in the context of the intrusion of modern symbolic and commercial exploitation and instrumentalization

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  • 2009  PhD (Linguistics) Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • 2004 PG Diploma (Journalism and Mass Communication): NOU
  • 1995 M Phil (Linguistics) Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • 1993 M.A. (Linguistics): Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi

  • 07/2011 - Present Professor, Former Dean of Students (2023-24) and Former Proctor Former Dean of Student Welfare (2016 -2019)
  • 07/2021-Present Professor, Department of English, School of Humanities and Social Sciences 
  • 07/2011 – 07/2021 Associate Professor, Department of English, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • 2007 – 2010 Assistant Professor Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Jasola, N Delhi
  • 07/1997 - Jan. 2006 Lecturer, Department of Communicative English with Media Studies, Patna Women’s College, Patna University.

  • 2016 Selected in the US Exchange Program WiU [Women in University Administration from South and Central Asia program,] a premier Professional Exchange Program. The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) hosted the program. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

  • 2016 Awarded Travel Grant by the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting in Miami, USA.

  • 2014 Received the SNU Faculty Excellence Award for outstanding commitment and dedication to the advancement of Shiv Nadar University.

 

Books:

Book Chapters: (Select)

  1. Book Chapter The Folk Narratives of Braj: Re-Presentations and Inflections. in Book Chapter published by Author Press in Interdisciplinary Handbooks (Ed.) Jibu Mathew George (Ed.); in De Natura Fidei – Rethinking Religion Across Disciplinary Boundaries. Volume II. 327-356. 2022. https://www.amazon.in/Natura-Fidei-Rethinking-Disciplinary 
  2. Book Chapter Folk Narratives exemplifying the Supernatural Belief, Splendour, and extraordinary Giftedness in Braj (India).’ In Kalita, D K. (Ed) Belief Narratives in Folklore Studies Narrating the Supernatural. ABILAC & ISFNR Conference Proceedings. 2021. ISBN: 978-93-82680-39-0  https://abilac.org/product/belief-narratives-in-folklore-studies-narrating-the-supernatural/ 
  3. Book Chapter ‘Designing a Course Curriculum for Translation Programs.’ Pg. 385-398; in the book ‘Perspectives on Applied and General Linguistics’; Ed. Gupta and Misra; Vijaya Books; 2016; ISBN:978-93-81480-99-1. 
  4. ‘Traits of Transmission and Preservation: Interpreting Digital Versions of Folktales and Folksongs from India’ in book-ed. ‘Folk Belief and Traditions of the Supernatural’; Beewolf Press; Denmark 2016 ISBN-13: 978-8799633142
  5. 'ESP (English for Specific Purposes): English in Mass Communication' - Ed. Dr. Vaishna Narang 'Contemporary Themes and Issues in Language Pedagogy’ Vol 1 2014, Orient BlackSwan, New Delhi pgs 207-230
  6. ‘Designing a Course Curriculum for Translation Programs’ Ed. Narang V in the book ‘Issues in Learning Theories and Pedagogical Practices’, Orient BlackSwan, 2013, A  
  7. Contemporary Themes and Issues in Language Pedagogy II, Chapter: ‘Suggestions of Best Suited Teaching Methodologies for in Programs in Training Translators’, Edited by Dr. V. Narang, Yash Publications, New Delhi, 2012
  8. Reference Chapter- MPhil Dissertation (JNU) published in ‘Acquisition studies on Indian Bilingual children’, Vaishna Narang, Yash Publications, New Delhi. 2009

Invited Public Lectures

  • 2017  Public lecture on ‘Unfinished Stories: Hindu Scripture’ at Vedantic Centre of Nebraska sponsored by the UNO Schwalb Centre for Israel & Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA.
  • 2017 Discussant, in conversation with Rabbi Aryeh Aziel, Professor, Centre for Israel & Jewish Studies University of Nebraska at Omaha, on ‘Unfinished Stories: Hindu Scripture and Jewish Midrash’. This in-conversation event was sponsored by the UNO Schwalb Centre for Israel & Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on Hindu and Jewish traditions, storytelling, and stories and to explore the deeper meanings. The event was broadcast on Omaha Local Radio.
  • 2021 Delivered an Invited Lecture in the eighth online lecture series of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) - Belief Narrative, entitled Folk Healing: Care, Cure, and Wellness in India. ISFNR / BNN website: http://www.isfnr.org/belief-narrative-network.php.

  • 2015-2019 Folklore Projects: 'Documentation of Folktales through Digitization' 
  • 2020 – (Resumed research work in 2023) Ongoing Folklore Project: ‘Folk Genre of Rural Community Women: Patrons in Preservation of Folklore’. Empirical research that employs oral folk expressions. With digitization all around, the ‘unrecorded’ traditions of these women are frozen through documenting and archiving. 
  • 1993 Project: “Acoustic Analysis of Speech Sounds of Various Cases of Defects”, sponsored by ICMR, New Delhi.

  1. Individual Paper Presented and Member Participation: American Folklore Society, 2023 (AFS) 135th Annual Meeting 2023 Portland, Oregon. USA [in-person] Title: But I Want to Tell My Stories Too: An Attempt to Interpret and Analyse Narratives from the Unskilled Women Folk of Migrant Communities in India. 
  2. Individual Research Paper Presentation and Chaired a Session. Topic: ‘Ethics in Folkloristic Research Fieldwork: Risk and Responsibilities’, at National Conference ‘Ethics In Human Science Research And Publication’ Organised by: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) September 2023
  3. Interim Conference of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) 2022 London, UK at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. Topic: Folk Attire, Colours, and Woven Vibes: Setting The Tone For Folk Narratives In India. [Online] July 2022.
  4. Panel Discussion and Research Paper Presented: The American Folklore Society's 134th annual meeting at AFS 2022 Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. [Online] Title: 'Centres of Pilgrimage – (Braj India): Reaffirming the Periphery by Exploring the Folk Narratives'. October 2022. Panel - ‘Oral Traditions of the Indian Subcontinent.
  5. Individual Paper Presented: American Folklore Society, 2021 (AFS) 133rd Annual Meeting 2021 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. USA [Online] Title: Bonding and Building Connections with Nature: Exploring through the Indian Folktales. 2021
  6. Individual Paper Presented: American Folklore Society, 2020 [Virtual Conference AFS] 133rd Annual Meeting 2021 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. USA [Online] Title: Bonding and Building Connections with Nature: Exploring through the Indian Folktales.
  7. Individual Paper Presented: The American Folklore Society's 131st Annual Meeting 2019 Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Title: Timeless Folk Genre of Rural Community Women: Patrons in Preservation of Folklore in our Digitally Connected World at American Folklore Society 2019.
  8. Presented the research paper 'Translation of English Literary Texts: Arguments and Engagement' at the English Literature Summit 2020 Virtual International Conference held on December 12-13, 2020.
  9. Presented a research paper, ‘To Assess and Evaluate Appropriately: Problems Faced in ELT During Pandemic’ at ‘Online Teaching and Testing of English Language: Challenges and Solutions ' Organized by the Department of English, SSN College of Engineering #SSNELT2020 - 3 & 4 December 2020. 
  10. Presentation of Research Paper ‘Timeless Folk Genre of Rural Community Women: Patrons in Preservation of Folklore in our Digitally Connected World’ in the Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society, October 16-19, 2019, Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Also chaired a session and was a mentor to graduate students during the AFS Annual Meeting.
  11. Presentation of Research Paper ‘Folk Narratives exemplifying the Supernatural Belief, Splendour, and extraordinary Giftedness in Braj (India)’, organized by ‘The ISFNR (International Society for Folk Narrative Research) - Belief Narrative Network’; Guwahati, India, 6th-8th February 2019 - Theme: Belief Narratives in Folklore Studies: Narrating the Supernatural. 
  12. Presentation of Research Paper ‘Digital Archiving and Documentation of Folklore: Ideas and Challenges’ at the conference ‘The Idea of the Archive’ organized by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, 2019.
  13. Individual Paper Presented and Chaired a session: The American Folklore Society's 128th annual meeting, October 18-21, 2017, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Title of Individual Paper Presented: ‘Re-Creation at Braj Folk Community: They Have Let the Narratives Take a Fresh Breath’. The theme for the meeting was "Community: Resistance, Reclamation, and Re-Creation.’  
  14. Individual Paper Presented: The American Folklore Society's 127th annual meeting Title of Individual Paper Presented: Narrators and their Narrations: Unfinished Stories in Context of the Intrusion of Commercial Exploitation, at American Folklore Society 2016 Annual Meeting with the International Society for Folk Narrative Research, October 19-22, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Miami, in Miami, Florida. The theme for the meeting was ‘Unfinished Stories: Folklife and Folk Narrative at the Gateway to the Future.’
  15. Paper Presentation and Chaired a session: ‘Traits of Transmission and Preservation while Interpreting and Crafting Digital Versions of the Folktales & Folksongs from Braj Region: India’ for a conference ‘Folk Belief and Traditions of the Supernatural: Experience, Place, Ritual, and Narrative,’ 2014, Shetland, United Kingdom.

2016 ‘India’s Folk Tales – Thriving in a Digital Age’. 

 httpwww.businessinsider.inindias-folk-tales-thriving-in-a-digital-agearticleshow56138981.cms 

2019 Short Documentary on ‘Documenting this part of India: Braj’ Folktales & folksongs based on the research project, ‘Documentation of Folktales through Digitization’. 

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpsQ5qYpe1nURactrew37Kg 

2016 - 2017 Course Taught in Partnership

Global Folklore ENG325 – An upper-level undergraduate course that was offered in partnership with Dr Tulika Chandra SNU and Dr Katherine Borland, Associate Professor& Director of the Centre for Folklore Studies at Ohio State University. The course was taught for two semesters (2016 Spring and Monsoon) and was offered at the same time at Shiv Nadar University as well as at Ohio State University. The course Syllabus followed for this course was designed in partnership with Dr Borland, and the faculty together led productive, interactive sessions with the students at both ends. The course was conducted by involving an exchange of assignments and videoconference sessions with students in OSU, allowing the class to enact global communication strategies as we studied global cultures.

2024 Translations: the translation work into English of the Hindi Novel, 'Paltu Babu Road', a Fiction Novel by the Hindi scholar and writer Phanishwar Nath Renu.

  • 2019 Reviewer for the Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • 2020 Orient BlackSwan, Publishing House. Reviewed a typescript Publication for a Volume of Essays
  • 2021 Springer Nature India Private Limited. Review of a complete manuscript of a book
  • 2022-2023 Reviewer for the Sage Open Journal (Linguistics Section)
  • 2023 Reviewer for the AlterNative