Good day, Dr. Kaushik N. Bhuyan. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Thank you, Arjun. Good afternoon.

My name is Doctor Kaushik and Muya I come from the state of Orissa Balasore, Orissa. I'm an Assistant professor of English and more than 5 plus years of teaching experience in English, Communication and Digital Humanities, Curriculum development, Entrepreneurship, Design thinking.

I have completed my PhD from Central University of Rajasthan IN2020. Prior to that I have completed my postgraduate diploma in the teaching of English from the English and Foreign Language University, Hyderabad.

I have also done my masters in English and Comparative Comparative literature from Pondicherry University. Along with that I have certificate courses in Business, English and Journalism, Mass communication. I have quite more than five years of teaching experience. Experience refer to universities like Vitap, Amravati, Andhra Pradesh campus, Ganapathi university, Gandhinagar, Gujarat ASB university, Bhubaneswar which is AB school also Serenity College of engineering at my hometown. During my.

Kind of teaching experience in the administrative experiences, I have been school coordinator, mentoring program. I have also into NEXT accreditation system, Iqs, cell clubs and chapters, programs at Vitap and other aspects into that. My teaching experience includes more than five years of teaching space and subjects. I have taught business communication, professional English, design thinking, entrepreneurship and all these subjects.

Umm, my research publication also, I'm good in that, uh, I have more than UH-7 to 8 research papers or Q1 scope or similar papers with more than 5.5 impact factor. Also UGC care state journals. And I'm very much keen to contribute to the same, uh, to the curriculum development, institutional growth at VIT Vellore. And I'm very much hopeful and optimistic for this opportunity.

Thank you so much for interacting with me.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you for asking. This is a very interesting specific subject area and I also been into the classrooms, retail classrooms particularly my expertise are travel writing and English for specific purposes in English language teaching. My PhD thesis was on travel writing. More more partly it comes on common literature. Also you can talk about popular literature if you look into digital humanities aspects nowadays the way.

Professor Bhuyan, let's evaluate your expertise across several critical areas aligned to the role of English Professor. Please be as specific and detailed in your responses as possible. Starting with Digital Humanities: how do you incorporate digital tools or methodologies in your research or teaching?

The humanistic value of the society is changing and.

This the way students are getting caught by the teachers and more into the spaces. Digital human displays are very vital role. As you asked that what are the tools and techniques we can use. Teaching particularly graduate and undergraduate students at VIT has given me immense scope and particularly people look into the aspect of teaching methodology. We take and take PSG students. I have used tools like.

Uh, language lab tools or we can talk about the multimeter, we can talk about, you know, Suneco, uh, the, the language level applications, we can talk about, you know, versatile applications. We can talk about all sort of, you know, language communication aspects in the particular area of that particular thing. Now, specifically in, if you look into the aspect of digital humanities, the what kind of.

That can be carried forward into this particular classrooms, whether this is graphic narrative and whether this is, you know, comic studies, whether this is, you know, campus fictions or whether this is so these kind of many things can be rolled into so when you talk about this specific thing. So for me it is the way the teacher has to prepare and accordingly to use these tools and techniques in the classroom itself to tell the students.

Work. What kind of art, uh English language trainer or teachers are producing?

Thank you, Professor Bhuyan. You've provided some relevant insights into your approach to digital methodologies and teaching tools. Let me clarify further: when employing digital humanities approaches in your teaching or research, how do you ensure that these tools enhance students' critical thinking, beyond just their technical use?

Good. Now I'll this is a very interesting question that how you know the critical values now we can talk about. Academic writing styles right so you can talk about.

Creative you know mindset or critical theory or you can talk a critical writing creative writing. Now this gives me to refer here the mass flows hierarchy of Nils. There are 6 stages of you know table wise stages of that particular aspect. Now when you talk about that thing in the classroom. Now these are all under undergraduate and postgraduate students Btech Mtech. More mostly undergraduate students now, courses like suppose ethics and value courses like gender studies, you know, courses like digital humanities. Any part of that. I'm not particularly going to digital humanities here. I can talk about more, you know, these areas which I have kind of mastered this art. Suppose you can talk about group discussions. Suppose you can talk about role play. Suppose you can talk about your design thinking. We have done some kind of activity best, you know. Teaching and methodology kind of stuff.

The fair as a teacher, I have indulged students, I have asked the students to think differently. Suppose you talk about the course like entrepreneurship. Now here in this particular aspect, you can talk about the way you asked me how it has to be, you know, critically it has to be in the students mindset. So in order to it you need to kind of feel you know some kind of. Nuances or you need to talk about different aspects of societal things which are happening. Suppose you could talk about.

The performance of, you know, the sustainable development goals is disease. Now these kind of things students need to think in the classrooms. And for that there are many, many techniques like numerous techniques opposite feature. You can talk about profiling, you can talk about categorization, you can talk about, you know, rubrics you can use, you can you can bring new smart methods of teaching. You can talk about inferential referential questions. You can talk about any, you know, open jam session just a minute sessions. So these kind of.

Spaces activities will particularly, you know, create some kind of creative mindset also critical, you know, applications in the students mind.

Thank you, Professor Bhuyan. You've highlighted various strategies and techniques to promote critical thinking in your students through the integration of digital tools and innovative teaching methodologies. Let's turn now to Commonwealth Literature. Could you provide an example of how you teach a specific piece of Commonwealth Literature, highlighting the pedagogical approach you use to address its historical, cultural, or thematic context?

OK, so now someone with literature is kind of literature where, you know, we could talk about various aspects of literary, you know, pieces which have been written in other many, many cultural aspects or any kind of subject it has been into that. So I'll give you an example of suppose, you know, a travel writing a travel law can also be a common in literature or which is which is which can be, you know, bring out here. Suppose I'll give an example of you know. Salman Rushdie's The Jaguar Smile. Uh, this is a travelogue which has been written in 1987. I think the, and Salman does this very much, you know, familiar, uh, uh, fiction and nonfiction factor. He has written a particular list travelogue now putting this type of thing into teaching students, particularly Btech, Mtech, you know, undergraduate students. It's very, uh, it's a challenging task because these are engineering students and teaching them piece of literature.

About Commonwealth, you know, studies, it will bring numerous questions to them that why they are being taught by this course and what is the need of this course, what are the learning aspects and all that. As a teacher, I need to ensure that these students get some learning experience. They also learn some kind of informations out of that. Now let's start with something like that. So this is a travelogue and travelogues are not documentation of travel narratives.

These are either fact or fiction. It depends on the, you know, the debate of travel writing now.

Uh, they can particularly the first thing they can bring out what is travel writing now, what is travelogue, what is common with literature. So they easily can suppose travel to regime and technology, travel to regime and technology. Now that can be integrated very cleverly and it can be an interesting piece of, you know, subject to the engineering students now teaching them pedagogy like literary text analysis. Literature student can understand it better than the engineering student.

Now teaching this kind of thing to the student.

Literature analytics, textual analysis you know, analysts, the methodological part So what is your travelogue what is the difference between a traveler and a tourist and this particular travelogue is about Nicaragua, Cuban, Cuba and the writer is very much also controversial and popular so this students will get a sense of holistic aspects of. These particular subject or common literature through this particular you know, I have given this piece of art, I have talked to you.

Now, if we look into overall aspects as engineering students, these students will get the sense of literature, also writing creatively, also integrating, you know, traveler travel, tourism into their engineering, you know, curriculum. So that will be my approach in pedagogy in that aspect.

Thank you, Professor Bhuyan, for detailing your approach to teaching Salman Rushdie's *The Jaguar Smile* and integrating Commonwealth Literature within an interdisciplinary context. While you’ve addressed some creative methods, I’d like to delve further: how do you ensure that students critically engage with the historical and political themes of the text, specifically in terms of their relevance to contemporary global issues?

Yes uh, this is also a very, uh, interesting topic that because if you look into the right Salman does this writing career and everything what he has done, he being an Indian writer, people don't consider sometimes an Indian writer. Now, I'm not putting Salman Rushdie ages for nearly a writer or 61 writer here. I'm putting him as a travel writer and critically and uh.

Students will understand who is the writer and uh, they will, I'll make sure they, uh, they will, uh, understand their previous work like satanic versus, uh, satanic works and uh, all sort of other work are there. Uh, now this particular travelogue is, talks about a outsider perspective, Salman Rushdie being in the Cuba and Nicaragua for three or two, three to four weeks. And uh, he has documented many such things like he has given.

The revolution, Q1Q1Q1 revolution, we also are given reference of Indira Gandhi emergency to that particular, you know, timing and also in the contemporary time what kind of you know, global politics or diplomacy is happening now. The students can now very much relate that text to now and how to negotiate right because this is not merely a kind of literature literary thing. Kind of more into attractive literary any human being.

Can you get relevance from there that how to, you know, succeed in diplomacy in the writer particular very much very interestingly has written that it is more journalistic way of writing. You know, it has there are numerous instances of political, you know, numerous instances of, you know, the people cultural, the ethnographic, ethnographic approach to life and cultural diplomacy.

So reading that particular century travelogue currently, it will be very much, you know, it will give a, you know, kind of reflect reflection to the modern nowadays society where we can learn many things that how to, you know, enter to annual territory being a travel writer and how to sustain there and what kind of writings and how the most important thing is what, what what what would be your you know. Personality, the way you looking at this?

Things so that will perfectly make a impactful, you know, outlook to this after pitch.

Very much thank you for asking that question because this is my one of the specialized area because I have done this postgraduate diploma in the teaching of English from EFL University in Hyderabad which has given me a foregrounded me a strong you know academic background where I can do that and I have done that and I'm also doing continuously for last five years now particular designing a kind of ELT thing. There are a number of numerous syllabus we can I can think of now suppose you can talk about. Communication skills there are there will be basic varieties of communications I love to introduce to them. Suppose in first year they will do that you know English for essential communication where we can teach them the basic of English like communications. What is communication? What kind of you know presentation skill has to be there the self how the person can you know more of more of we can say impression management kind of thing. I'm also being previous. I have also worked very hard as.

Understood, Professor Bhuyan. You've explained well how you guide students in linking historical contexts and political underpinnings of Salman Rushdie’s *The Jaguar Smile* to contemporary global dynamics, including themes like diplomacy, cultural negotiation, and societal relevance. Let’s shift now to English Language Teaching (ELT). Can you share your approach to designing an effective curriculum for undergraduate students in ELT, particularly balancing theoretical knowledge with practical skills development?

School of, you know, finishing school where we have talked about this controllability, uh, corporate readiness thing. So that I'll introduce in this particular thing step by step. So that will be my first syllabus that where we can talk about the basic of English lattes and sort of things, you know, English language skills, LSRW, uh, which for me is speaking and writing are active skills and listening and, you know, uh, reading our passage skills. Then the second one we can talk about English for essence, uh, English for effective communication, so.

Where we can kind of stress more on effective way of communicating. What are the five stages of communications? How to give more presentations? You can talk about the hook line and, you know, sinker theory here. We can talk about the seven stages of, you know, uh, presentations. So, and, uh, the further step will be more into kind of a, you know, detailed orientation. It talks about English for professional communication where we can bring out bit of research element. We can talk about how to write academic writing, how to write.

According to writing papers, resource papers, so overall, theoretically, I'll also give them books, reference materials for integrating English language teaching into their aspects and also simultaneously in the classrooms continuously, continuously will do integrating role-play activities, presentation skills, random, you know. Games and justification of these ideas, so different different approaches I'll bring into. To this classroom and we're designing this particular syllabus and I also done that I've already done that in Vitap in mine tenure. I've also done another, you know interesting syllabus digital marketing for teaching and learning English language and nowadays English language is being used for digital teaching and also learning you know aspect. So there also I have talked about meaning such theory and practices talk about marketing, talk about branding talks talks about negotiation, talks about conflict.

So I'm also has taught in, you know, this MBA B school. So that also gives me an extra edge that I can also teach these language skills and language oriented at humanistic aspect, you know, subjects. And that gives me, you know, more comfortable. I'm more comfortable. I'm more comfortable teaching English language and communication skills rather than kind of literature because the world demands that. And I'm into more than I'm also certified entrepreneurship Inst.

So I'm, I'm good in that particular idea about, you know, teaching language for corporate and industry-ready students.

Thank you, Professor Bhuyan. You've laid out a comprehensive approach to English Language Teaching, emphasizing both foundational skills and advanced, industry-relevant applications. It's clear that you incorporate theoretical frameworks alongside experiential, hands-on methods to ensure your students are well-prepared for professional environments. Next, let's discuss your ability to guide student projects and research. Could you provide an example of a specific student research project or initiative you supervised, and how you mentored the student to achieve impactful results?

Yes, uh, I have uh, guided students both in literature language and, uh, also I have guided students in engineering learning projects. And because of, you know, while I was teaching this entrepreneurship course in Vita three, I have guided them, you know, submitting uh, papers of newer, new kind of aspects in entrepreneurship design thing, particularly, uh, if you will ask me specific, I can remember in my time.

At AS game University I have guided 3 DBA students.

Where they have, you know, worked on, you know, excelling, expelling communication studies or communication skills for doing, you know, good thing. And you know, if I am correctly because 5-6 years earlier that particular aspect I have done that they are helping them to guide, you know, students marketing and language skills required for marketing and analysis. I've also particularly guided students in, you know. He and me and me, uh, but both have presented a paper in international conference in my time at VIP, uh, you know, about, uh, financial marketing, Wellness, tourism, about that particular aspect. Uh, when I talk about this engineering, uh, you know, explore project or something, uh, one student who is kind of given a submission of a paper or something, which I have initially written the whole storytelling thing, which has been submitted under me, uh, to the university.

Which talks about, you know, the use of particular AI detective detect, you know, trees off whenever we are wearing these jewelries around, you know, men or women, it is theft. It is being stolen sometimes. How can you detect those, you know, jewelry or something. So that is one particular product I can remember now there are various other papers which are papers also I have been contributed with my students.

You know, gender studies, travel lighting, so just two to three now I can, you know, remind these are my specific examples, achievements I have kind of contributed.

In the area of Wellness tourism, in the area of ethics and value in the area of.

Thank you, Professor Bhuyan. You’ve shared a range of examples showcasing your mentorship in diverse areas—from entrepreneurship and marketing to engineering-focused innovations and humanistic research. Your ability to mentor students across interdisciplinary projects demonstrates flexibility and a broad academic reach. As we progress, let's focus on research publications. Could you provide an overview of your most impactful research publication, particularly highlighting its contribution to the academic community or practical applications?

Sure. My recent recent publication which has been published with Springer Nature with 5.5 impact sector in Q1. You know Scopus individual is about Wellness tourism where I have integrated travel, writing travel, traveling tourism with sustainable development goals where we have talked about the 17 goals, particularly the goal number one, third, 4th and 7th particularly because this talks about my you know paper area. So this paper particularly gives them. Approach that how Wellness tourism works or how travel and tourism works as a more of a, you know, tool for Wellness tourism marketing. Because you can see in India, Wellness tourism is booming like anything, you know now travel and tourism is not for only for pleasure or something. It's also very purposeful and already, you know, research and information oriented. So that particular paper is given as a more arts, you know. Commerce and science, humanistic approach because.

These other contributors of my papers has given, suppose somebody has given a commercial aspect to that and some I have written given a framework of the paper being coming from social sciences and humanities and another person who comes from you know, Gia, geographical information system, he has given a more, you know more of maps and cartography representation of those particular things. So that is my current research papers which had been published last year only 2025.

With Stringer. Nature Q1.

Scope as interest.

Thank you for the detailed response, Professor Bhuyan. Your recent publication on Wellness tourism and its integration with Sustainable Development Goals is indeed an interdisciplinary contribution, combining elements of humanities, social sciences, and even GIS. It’s impressive to hear how it ties together marketing, sustainability, and purposeful travel, making it relevant to both academic and practical fields. Let us now discuss your ability to teach theory and laboratory courses. How do you balance theoretical instruction with practical application in your teaching, ensuring students gain both conceptual clarity and hands-on experience?

Yeah, thank you. This is again being a teacher, it's very, you know, this is very respectful job and I this is my passion and whatever teaching and theoretical thing I teach in the English classroom or something. Suppose LSR double listening, speaking, reading, writing. I have given a theoretical aspect in the language lab also we have done we have you know, software or K1 software where I can talk about an integrated both speaking skills and to activities all sort of.

Entered the lab. So that will be my whole aspect of doing that in the lab laboratory.

Understood, Professor Bhuyan. You've outlined how you integrate theoretical frameworks with practical activities, particularly using tools like language lab software to enhance listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Your approach demonstrates an effective way to connect concepts with real-world application in a structured environment. Next, let’s talk about your ability to evaluate students and manage assessment duties. How do you ensure fairness, transparency, and effectiveness in evaluating student performance across diverse academic tasks?

Uh, this is a very challenging and this is one of the most, uh, challenging thing for me in the last, uh, 4-5 years of my teaching because our classrooms are more diverse and background. Uh, you know, people come from diverse background to, to my classrooms, our, our classroom, particularly, uh, and, uh, the, the thing which works for me very well is my, uh, humility. I believe in that and also my openness and flexibility with the students.

Our

Uh, I don't come across as a very strict teacher in front of them. I kind of, as I already mentioned before that I'll do this profiling thing and categorization of students because once you kind of continuous assessment, So as a teacher, you will get to know that what kind of students, you know, are there in my classrooms And I kind of, or tend to appear be more friend, uh, guide philosopher to them in my classroom. Uh, which gives me, you know.

Men's scores of integrating mind, theoretical aspect, my practical based knowledge to my students, uh, few initial classes, I tried to know them better. Uh, if I tell them there are 5 stages in design thinking that empathy, then, you know, defining and then IDSN, then testing, then evolution. Similarly, when you create a product, you go through these five stages. Similarly, when I also go through this, my students, you know, uh.

Career development, I kind of try to do the same thing that being empathetic towards the students, I try to get to know them first, what are their needs according to their need and analysis I give my product. So I kind of continuously enhance some growing. Developing myself to enter into the classrooms because I'm a language trainer and teacher and diverse academic background and coming into VIT has given me immense. I must acknowledge and proud of saying that that vit Andhra Pradesh when I entered when I entered here now.

I'm not working there. I really keen to work, uh, for Vit Vellore, uh, gives me immense, uh, you know, help and development, uh, has, has kind of nurtured me more as a teacher and developer. Uh, developing, developing PS2 teacher. So empathetic, being empathetic and continuously asking, you know, assessment of there are the slow learner thing. I do that.

Classroom I try to put that and randomly will do any kind of, you know, gamifications or use of any tools or techniques. I do that in the classroom. So overall in a holistically it you know, I bring with me blend theory and both you know, we can talk about the blender mode or you know, or the flip mode of classrooms and when for video was there, it started. So these all can give me a overall, you know.

Similarly doubt clearing classes. I put that uh more interactive.

Kind of mileage to coming into my classroom and that that has been my strength and that has been my teaching style throughout these all these years.

Great. Uh, I have continuously doing that. Uh, it will, I shall tell you very particularly, uh, that, uh, everywhere I go, every, you know, space I work. Research is something which kind of, you know, makes you, uh, apart from others, uh, teaching and learning is there, but research, innovation and everything is very much needed. And vit is the pioneer of doing that. That is why it is vit and vit is, is in my blur.

Thank you, Professor Bhuyan. Your emphasis on empathy, engagement, and adaptability in evaluating students, combined with diverse methods like profiling, gamification, and blended learning, reflects a thoughtful and student-centered approach. Such practices no doubt create an enriching academic environment tailored to diverse learner needs. Let’s discuss mentorship next. Specifically, how do you guide students in developing research ideas and preparing them for scholarly publishing or conference presentations?

That is why I'm here. Uh, so with respect to.

These particular aspects, uh, I from the very beginning, you know, uh, encourage students to uh, research papers and publish at least term paper in two research papers or some kind of that particular aspect.

Uh, I'm just plugged in, uh, my laptop.

Sorry, uh, so uh.

I'll, I'll, I'll give a step by step, you know, thing to this. I, whenever in the classroom, I kind of create a WhatsApp group where I, uh, I announce in the classroom that whoever is interested in, you know, research and publications can join this group. So continuously I post, start posting and post, uh, you know, wherever any conference or any kind of thing is, you know, happening. Similarly, the student which are, who are they who are interested in doing this?