Apala Kundu
- Graduate Student, PhD Literature, Part-Time Instructor
Apala Kundu is a 7th year PhD candidate in the Literature program. She is presently working on her dissertation titled "T-read-ing Waters: Navigating Postcolonial Mobilities in Indian Ocean novels." Apala is also part-time instructor for Seminar in Composition for fall 2025.
Apala’s research explores 20th and 21st century postcolonial migration novels from the Indian Ocean region to argue that Indian Ocean studies can offer a useful alternative to dominant models of postcoloniality, models that are terracentric, nation-state oriented, and rely heavily on North-South or East-West power binaries. Her research methodology is interdisciplinary, weaving archival research with literary analysis. In March of 2025, she concluded an archival research field trip to Mauritius funded by research and professional development funds from the Humanities Engage Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship, the World History Center, and the English department.
Courses Taught:
ENGCMP 0200: Seminar in Composition (Staff syllabus). Fall 2020
ENGCMP 0200: Seminar in Composition: Migration and Identity. Spring 2021
ENGLIT 0365: Imagining Social Justice - on the Move through Literatures of Migration. Fall 2021 & 2022
ENGLIT 0325: The Short Story (in context): Short Stories across the Globe. Summer 2022
GSWS 0100: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies. Spring 2023
Education & Training
- Ph.D. in English. University of Pittsburgh. Matriculated August 2019. GPA: 3.98 [with M.A. certificate in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies: “When Women Write Men: Reading Scripts of Homosexual Masculinity in Popular Thai Visual Media”]
- M.A. in English. University of Pittsburgh. December 2022. GPA: 3.98
- M.A. in English. Presidency University. June 2017. GPA: 8.05
- B.A. in English. Presidency University. June 2015. GPA: 7.85
Research Interests
Postcolonialism in the Global South; Indian Ocean studies; Migration; Mobility and Diaspora studies; Asian and South Asian studies; Gender and Sexuality studies; and Pedagogy
