Good day, Dr. Rithwik Sankar A. 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?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

Yes, Sir.

Very good afternoon to you.

Amrita Shankar. I'm from Kannur.

North part of Kerala.

I have completed my PhD in English, especially in Cultural Studies.

With a special focus to Devakul, a culture. Gender critique of Devakud, A ritual art form in North Malabar.

With the specialization.

Uh.

Can I continue?

OK.

So my research experience actually.

Influenced by the culture, gender, performance practices especially, and I have critically looked at all these factors through my research in Devakut.

And after that, I have continued this journey with the by analysing the emerging.

Fields like digital humanities and blue humanities and I have extended my study to document this particular art form. They were cooled in a digitally.

Uh, in a digital manner.

So that I did through my SPR attendance in IASP and that is a one year program. And as a research associate, I have completed the digital archival of Devakut and I documented Devakut and I created a website and also a documentary based on that.

And I have published UH-4 international journals, journal papers in a reputed journals especially in UH, Taylor and Francis, Sage publications etcetera.

And I I now submit it a proposal to.

Have a book grant from ICSA and now it is in the active.

Evaluation process under active evaluation process of ACSR.

And I have also started translating one of the, uh, books written by a political leader in Kerala. And I, that is also, uh, that is also an ongoing process that I'm actually looking into.

Yes.

Thank you for sharing. Let me dive into specific evaluation areas linked to your expertise. First, could you elaborate on how digital humanities, as applied in your research, transforms traditional cultural and performance studies? Specifically, how do you ensure academic rigor while transitioning traditional studies into a digital format?

Yes.

That's a great question.

So.

Can I continue?

Yes.

Yes, of course. Please go ahead.

So, uh.

It was during my research associate tenure that I.

That I got familiar with this particular digital humanities and all and I.

Uh, really enjoyed learning digital humanities, especially the tools in digital humanities. So The thing is that, uh, when I, uh, during my research period, uh, I had an experience in teaching assistants and.

I.

Mentor students, especially the students, especially the weaker students, and I contacted somebody mentoring processes. And for that, I use these digital platforms to improve their efficiency in English and how they can communicate. I conducted role plays. So I I showed them some of the videos from this vocabulary part, from the grammar parts.

And that made them easy to understand the process, especially the process. So I believe in.

Mixed learning, especially the blended learning, where the tradition, the traditional way of teaching can be influenced or can be benefited from the technology that we have today.

So that we can actually teach, we can actually learn, we can actually enrich our learning experience especially so we have the Zoom, we have the digital online, digital platforms for learning and we can share the students, the tech talks, YouTube videos.

So that the learning process will be much easier because everybody is living in a digital world.

So that we can actually blend these together and to have an enriched experience in the learning process.

Yes, Sir.

Thank.

You're welcome, Professor. Let's delve further. How have you used your expertise in Commonwealth Literature to provide global insights for students, especially comparing it with regional or local literature?

Yes.

Commonwealth literature is basically.

A part of literature that we have today.

And our India literature is one among them, this Commonwealth literature because all these literatures come come under the British literature, how the Britishers ruled us right so that.

Uh, the Common Commonwealth literature, we can call it as a kind of a resistance literature. They have articulated through their literature, the writers, how they were actually.

Influenced how they were actually ruled by different cultures.

So all these platforms, all these literatures are come under the specific term Commonwealth.

And we have defined.

Please continue.

Yes, we have different Commonwealth literatures, including Indian literature.

Uh, Australian literature, Uh.

Canadian literature etcetera and we have a lot of teams that they covered under these specific category and has an India.

We have Indian literature and we have regional varieties, so we have to ensure that our literature should be.

Steady with much rigor across the globe.

So that we can use the digital media, we can use the innovative paradigm in order to.

In order to shift our knowledge tradition. In order to make our knowledge tradition reach the clock.

So we have our own post colonial literature, Indian literature, the language we have used and we have our own writers who won actually The Who won Nobel Prize, who won Booker Prize. So we have the global reach.

So what we have to do is to use our resources and and reach our tradition and write about it and make it global.

That's a compelling perspective, Professor. It shows your commitment to not just teaching but also building bridges between local and global literary traditions. How do you integrate this understanding of Commonwealth and Indian literature into your classroom teaching to enhance students' critical thinking and global awareness?

So can you repeat the question?

Certainly, Professor. How do you incorporate your understanding of Commonwealth and Indian literature into your teaching to develop students' critical thinking and global awareness?

Yeah, that is an excellent question.

Thank you, Professor. Please elaborate.

Yes. So we have common with literature and we have Indian literature.

And The thing is that.

Yes.

Take your time, Professor.

So when we look into the history of India.

Whenever

We were actually ruled by different cultures, different rulers, right?

And we, we are ruled. We were ruled by different foreign cultures, especially and.

We were ruled by the British Empire.

Basically call the sun never sets because of their uh.

Encroachment to different cultures.

So when we look into.

Yes, when we look into the Yes, when we look into the writings of Indian literature.

We can see that there are.

There are reflections.

In which the writers reflected how the Western culture influenced them, right?

And how the western culture.

Loot our culture, the tradition.

And we have our own literature.

Got

To show resistance.

And we use literature as a post colonial.

Perspective, especially the Indian writers like ALDI Roy.

And Salman Rushdie, Amidal Ghosh.

They wrote, they have written many writings, many novels.

And they have incorporated the regional varieties into Indian literature.

Especially the use of gentrification by Salman Rushdie.

And the.

That’s

Novel. Let me explain this.

So when we look, when we look into the Roy's the God of small things.

Certainly, please

We can't have a particular structure, we can't see a particular structure while reading The God of Small Things, so we see that novel.

Is originated from the West.

And we have a clear structure, novel structure, that follows the chronological pattern, but that cannot be seen in the novel The Goddess nor things by elderly Roy.

There's a clear case of clear case of resistance that we can show the world that we have our own structure.

So that's a clear case of what?

So have when we look at look into each and every Commonwealth literature, they have their own method.

If you look it, look into the African literature.

That's

Chennai TV use different media.

Noogie what Tiomko used different medium?

They even called the abolition of English department.

So that we have our own tradition.

And we have, we should have a kind of a reflex.

The flexibility we should reflect how we are and what we are and what influence does.

And what made?

Indian Literature.

So that we can have a clear perceptions in which we can analyze things clearly.

So that.

Please go ahead.

So, Dad.

So that we can have a global perspective, a global understanding how literature is going on, how the literature is written.

So we have our own culture because they share their own culture through their literature. They're the best.

And we have our own tradition, our own culture, our own stories to share with.

Thank you,

Yes.

Thank you, Professor. Your insights on integrating cultural and literary heritage into global perspectives are valuable. Moving on, could you elaborate on your approach to guiding students in their research or projects, especially in blending theoretical frameworks with practical outcomes?

Yes.

Eastern My approach of teaching is student oriented outcome based teaching.

Uh, I believe that.

My expertise in research, my expertise in research and ethnographical research can influence the research guidance.

Even our classroom teaching can incite.

And light the research paradigm.

So as a researcher, as a teacher.

I believe in interdisciplinary approach.

So that if you look at a particular topic, if you look into different subjects.

We should think critically, and I encourage critical thinking.

And I can provide different theoretical perspectives so that the students can think.

Differently.

So that I can blend.

I can blend.

Teaching with different theoretical perspectives and I can enlighten students to have.

A clear perspective on their daily life, especially the life around them.

So that they can critically analyze this.

Everything that comes.

Comes in front of them.

And they can have a gender perspective when they when they encounter.

Different genders in literature.

And different cultures.

So that they can enrich their.

Perspectives. They can have a clear vision.

And I believe that.

Understood,

A teacher can be a good facilitator.

A good researcher can a good facilitator who can guide students to different media, different topics.

And everything is there around them.

So that we can have.

A clear perspective we can have a good.

Please

The search.

Because everything is there within.

I believe so.

So that they have good researcher can also.

Also be a good guide.

Yes.

Let's finalize the assessment of your technical and teaching competencies. Could you walk me through a specific example where your student evaluation methods led to notable improvements in their academic or practical skills?

So can you repeat the question?

Certainly, Professor. Could you provide an example where your method of evaluating students resulted in significant improvements in either their academic performance or practical abilities?

Yeah.

Definitely, Sir.

I did my research in a Technical University which is Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum Care.

And as part of my research, I.

And the opportunity to.

Teach students, especially the B.Tech students.

And when I entered into their class.

Understood,

I realize that.

They have different, their fluency level is different, their understanding is different. So I face this particular challenge. How can I teach these students?

So that I initiated an approach that that is called prudimentary.

Before that I conducted a test.

So that I can analyze the different level, the different standards of students. So that I can plan the curriculum, I can plan the modules, I can plan my teaching methods to benefit them.

Without creating any division in the classrooms.

So.

I believe that I believe in everybody. Every students in the classroom should get equal opportunity to share their views.

Everybody should. Every student every. Every student should.

Uh, clearly envision what they can, uh, what they can be in future.

So that I started.

Buddy mentoring system in classroom.

I have a personal connection with these students.

And I.

Evaluated their approach.

I personally gave them assistance I gave them.

Role plays.

Different, uh, role plays and group discussions and, uh, a kind of what the interview, how can, how can we interview?

Some interview pics as well.

So hi.

Practiced.

Some grammar modules, vocabulary exercises so that they can improve themselves in their field.

So as a technical student, these students can improve in their professional life as well.

So this burdimanist system I introduced there in the classroom.

Benefited students.

And they improve a lot when I evaluated them with certain rubrics.

I found that they have gained good marks in different areas and they.

They gain confidence in public.

Communication.

And they perform well before an interview. Interview board.

So all these happened because of this interaction of buddy mentoring system and a proper.

And peer reviewed UH approach.

Yes.

Your implementation of the buddy mentoring system and tailored evaluation techniques demonstrates a thoughtful approach to addressing diverse classroom needs. It's clear your methods had a positive impact on students' confidence and performance. Could you now share how you support students in research publications or projects, particularly in aligning their work to meet academic or industry standards?

Yes, yes.

Uh, academic writing, research writing, uh, how to write a research proposal and the research publication ethics and the reference in softwares and all. So as a researcher and also as a teacher, I can share all these with the students.

During my research period, I had the experience to attend different workshops related to.

As a researcher, I believe that a researcher should have a kind of a research ethics, a professional ethics, so that is.

It shouldn't follow plagiarism as researchers should follow a proper evaluation method.

Researchers shouldn't be.

So that they can have a proper citation in their research. So as a researcher and also as a teacher, as a mentor.

As a facilitator.

I believe that a researcher should.

For loop and proper academic style which I can assist.

And I have resource persons with me and I have personal resources as well so that I can guide the students to have a proper ethical research.

Methods and I believe that.

Understood.

A good research publication.

How influenza on our future.

So that I can guide them how to write abstract properly, how to write a synopsis, how to identify keywords in an article.

How to how to read and evaluate a proper journal article and how to identify?

A proper journal which assumes their interests and suits their idea.

So I have that expertise because I published UH-4 international papers in a well reported journal journalist. So I can have I have this clear idea about all these things. So I can guide, I personally believe that I can guide students to.

Published more on good number of journals in future as well Sir.

Thank you, Professor. It's clear that your hands-on experience in academic publishing and ethical research makes you well-equipped to mentor students effectively in their research endeavors. That concludes my evaluation. Would you like to add anything further, or are you ready to conclude the interview?

Uh.

I have a few things that, uh, The thing is that, uh.

I have. I personally believe that I have good personal, good organizational and leadership skills.

And I can organize many workshops, I can organize different conferences, in hand conferences. So that definitely beneficial for the academic field as well. And I believe and I look forward.

To contribute more to the academics of VID.

Especially the academic field, research and the writings field.

Yes.

Thank you, Professor. Your passion for contributing to academics, research, and writing is commendable. Are you ready to conclude the interview, or would you like to share anything more?

Uh.

Uh, The thing is that I am currently.

Yes, Sir.

Understood, Professor. Can you confirm if you'd like to conclude the interview now?

Yes, Sir.