Good day, Mohammad Kamran Ahsan. 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?

OK, should I start now?

OK, my name is Doctor Mohammed Kamran Hassan. Let me start with my PhD. I have completed my PhD.

Yes, please go ahead.

From Aligarh Muslim University in 2012 in the field of feminism in Indian English novels, I started my academic career as a Fulbright.

Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at Yale University, US in 2011. There I worked for two semesters as an exchange visitor. So I was assisting in their program of Urdu slash Hindi side by side. I was also taking some classes of.

But as in on the audit basis?

I took up four courses, 2K courses per semester teaching in American classroom, post colonial family, post colonialism, feminism and professional communication.

Alongside these professional academic engagements, I also participated in several conferences funded by Fulbright. I participated in the annual conference of Four Byte in Washington, DC. I also participated in National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages. There, I presented one paper on Urdu language and its nuances here in India.

I also gave 1 presentation on Fulbright Scholar as a Culture ambassador.

In South Asian Languages Conference at Yale University.

I have 13 years of experience in teaching and research. I have been taking up the classes of communication as well as literature.

Alongside the classroom activities and engagements, I have been actively involved in research. Uh, to my credit I have 7 Scopus, Indian journals, publications, 6 in Economic Political Weekly.

That is the most reputed journal in social science and humanities and my publications are multidisciplinary in nature.

So one article that I got published in Manchester Journal of.

Transnational Islamic law.

As for the book chapters, I have several book chapters. Some of the notable book chapters are in Palgrave McMillan. There I worked on the intersectionality.

That was published 2 years back.

And English language learning in the rural areas of Haryana, Mewar.

Where I work in, I work on female Muslim students and the challenges that are being faced by these female students in learning English.

Here at GD Goenka University, I have been working for the last four years. I have been taking up the classes of language and literature.

Currently I am assigned the classes in engineering faculty.

And I am working professional communication as well as workplace communication nowadays in the semester. Last semester I taught some courses on communication skills and enhancement. I took up also some course on Indian Knowledge system.

That's all.

Thank you, Professor Hassan. I appreciate you sharing your extensive academic journey with me.

Could you please repeat it to your question?

I was just asking about your question. I gave my introduction about my academic career as well as about my publications.

Of course, Professor. Could you clarify what you would like me to repeat? Is it regarding my earlier question, or are you asking about something else?

Thank you, Professor, for clarifying. Let me proceed to the next part of our discussion. Can you elaborate on your experience with teaching Commonwealth Literature? Specifically, how do you approach introducing students to the complexities of postcolonial themes within Commonwealth texts?

Well, it's quite intriguing to.

Uh teach and uh read common literature being from a post colonial nation in India and one says of post colonial literature.

I taught some courses of Indian English writing as well from the first colonial point of view.

So when we read the post column literature, we start from the Indian writing in the context of Indian writing. Because tech for I, I, I can give the example of Commonwealth iteration in Indian context. So basically my PhD was also from Indian literature.

So in Indian English I started with Raja Rao.

And the nationalist themes during the colonial period so we cover different phases of.

Anti colonial struggle.

That are reflected in the post colonial writings, uh, for instance, we also discuss, uh, different, uh, shades of political social movements in the post colonial writings. For instance, for Arundhati, I also, this was also the part of my PhD when we discuss, uh, postcolonial literature. So this particular novel talks about. The feminist experiences the how, the what? What is the role of community?

Uh, colonial colonialism.

In the.

In strengthening the patriarchy.

And how the patriarchy eroded in the post colonial India.

And I also taught this.

This Seminole work of Chennai JB Things fall apart. That is a very Seminole post. Colonial text in Africa. African Literature.

So the nuances of feminine Commonwealth literature we can easily graze through the social political movements that run side by side in Commonwealth countries around the world.

Thank you, Professor, for that detailed response. You mentioned some significant texts like Raja Rao's works, Arundhati Roy's writings, and Achebe's *Things Fall Apart*. It's clear you've given considerable thought to the intersections of postcolonialism, feminism, and political movements in your teaching and research. As a follow-up, could you discuss how you structure your classroom discussions on these themes? Specifically, how do you engage students in critically analyzing the layered perspectives in postcolonial narratives?

From the first colonial point of view.

Uh, still we always discuss neocolonialism, OK? And neocolonialism is everywhere.

The country, the these Commonwealth countries, they have come out of the influence of direct colonialism, but the the the mode of the colonialism only changed.

So when we discuss some of the post colonial texts that are written.

Recently, they discussed neocolonialism that is at work in the different forms, in the form of the capitalism, in the form of the capitalist patriarchy, how the female and the how the women are being marginalized in the name of so-called liberation.

So we discuss all the current themes in the postal literature that are being propagated by neo colonialist discourse.

That’s a thoughtful way to guide discussions, Professor—analyzing the shift from colonial to neocolonial structures and their manifestations. By connecting older postcolonial themes with contemporary issues such as capitalist patriarchy and marginalization under the guise of liberation, you provide a nuanced lens for students to critically assess ongoing paradigms. A final question on this topic: How do you incorporate diverse student perspectives, particularly considering their varied cultural and geographical backgrounds, into these discussions? How do you ensure their voices are part of the critical analysis in your classroom?

Hold the discussion. My classes are basically discussion based. I it's not like authoritative and one man show where the teacher is speaking all the way. So we discussed some of the important themes. We discussed the text critically and I personally encourage my students to participate in the discussion and whatever understanding they have from these post colonial attacks, they have to share and they have to align the understanding with their daily experiences.

Well, it's see, I I usually.

Because we are living in the age of social media so each and everyone is well informed about the different modes of colonialism and post colonialism and neo colonialism.

How they are going through and what they are learning through the social media.

Understood, Professor. Your discussion-based approach and emphasis on student engagement seem to empower students to critically relate these texts to their lived experiences and modern influences, like social media. It's a dynamic way to foster deeper understanding and relevance in their interpretations. Let’s move forward. Could you share your approach to teaching English language theory courses, especially for students who may not have a strong foundation in linguistic concepts? How do you ensure clear and structured learning for them?

Well, mostly. All my classes so far in my entire career have been multilingual. Multicultural.

In a mixed way, like I try to make the mixed group where the students from the high proficiency are grouped together sometimes with the students who have weak proficiency in English so that they can benefit each other not only in terms of language but culture as well. Because the linguistic class, language classes, classroom is a very diverse space.

And I've been teaching these classes.

So when we mix up these students in the class, they also interact not only linguistically, they also interact culturally.

So mixing of the students on the basis of the different proficiencies work better in a multi cultural and multi layered class where the students are coming from the different levels of proficiency.

See in these next type of groups, we don't have any one particular approach. We have the, the classroom is diverse. So we have to use the diverse methods to evaluate, to assess these students, to engage them properly. And it's like one-on-one basis, like we try to analyze the weaknesses and their strengths of the students and then on the basis of the class performance of these students. We always devise our teaching methodology, our pedagogy.

That inclusive approach, Professor, where higher-proficiency students interact with those at a weaker level, not only aids in linguistic improvement but also fosters cross-cultural understanding—a vital skill in today’s globalized world. You’ve rightly utilized the classroom as a diverse space for mutual learning and cultural exchange. As a follow-up, could you elaborate on any specific teaching techniques you use, such as task-based methods, role-playing, or peer evaluations, to strengthen both language skills and cultural awareness in such mixed-proficiency settings?

Uh, could you please repeat your question?

Could you please repeat your question because there is some, uh, Internet connectivity issue here.

Of course, Professor. My question was: Could you share an example of how you have guided a student through a research project? Specifically, how do you help them refine their research focus and ensure academic rigor in their work?

So here in my current workplace, we have interdisciplinary projects where the students are. There is a group of students from the diverse fields like and we try to give some interdisciplinary project.

The students are grouped from the diverse fields Engineering, Humanities, Law.

So they come up, they basically these research projects are to make them aware of the dimensions of the research at the very outset. So especially we start this IDP projects.

So that they can be easily familiarized with the dynamics of research and they have a research based aptitude all in their future career.

These ITP projects at the very outset in the third semester of their graduation.

Thank you, Professor. Introducing interdisciplinary projects early in a student's academic journey, and grouping them across fields like engineering, humanities, and law, is a forward-thinking approach. It not only broadens their research perspectives but also fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary outlook that's valuable for their academic and professional growth. Building on this, could you elaborate on how you assess these interdisciplinary projects? What specific criteria do you focus on to ensure both individual and group contributions meet scholarly standards?

Of course, the groups are assigned by on the central level, so we have little say here.

In the institution, but usually these groups are they, they consist of four or five students. So we have the formative and summative assessment throughout the semester. The Idps or interdisciplinary projects, they go for two semesters. So in the first semester, basically they are introduced the basics of research like literature, you write introduction.

In the next semester they have to work on a full-fledged paper and they are basically advised to publish their interdisciplinary works in the form of the book either or in the form of sub peer reviewed journals.

Decide gap research questions, research objectives OK.

And they are assessed and evaluated on the basis of their publication, on the basis of their presentation, on the basis of their PPTS or power pilots.

Thank you, Professor. Your structured approach, including formative and summative assessments through two semesters, along with the emphasis on introducing foundational research skills and culminating in publications or peer-reviewed works, reflects a rigorous framework. Evaluating students via their presentations, written papers, and publications ensures both academic discipline and practical outcomes. Let us now focus on your teaching approach in laboratory and theory-based courses. How do you ensure that students grasp theoretical concepts and also see their practical applications?

He basically in my literature courses I was assigned some components of literary theory.

So theory courses are sometimes difficult to understand for the early learners at the graduation level.

So we need to make them aware about the social political movements that are.

Ongoing continuously in the different parts of the world to make them understood and understanding. Suppose if we talk of Marxism, we talk of feminism. We try to align all these moments and theoretical.

Movements with the current social and political scenario around the world so that they can easily understand the ramifications and the the the the outcomes of these social theoretical movements.

Thank you, Professor. By aligning theoretical movements like Marxism and feminism with ongoing social and political scenarios worldwide, you make these abstract concepts more relatable and comprehensible for early learners. It's an effective way to bridge theory with practice and encourage critical thinking. How do you ensure students independently analyze and interpret these theories, moving beyond passive understanding? Specifically, do you use activities such as debates, written critiques, or comparative analyses to deepen their engagement?

Yes, of course I was assigned the paper on existentialism. So in order to understand existentialism, existentialism is difficult to understand for the graduation students and especially this theater of absurd. So I devised I wrote down 1 short drama and escaped and each every student of the class was required to participate in that drama so that they can clarify the concept regarding. Existentialism. After the script, we held a discussion.

Where all these students who participated in this kitten drama, they presented their own point of view.

So basically, we need to make our learning, our pedagogy more and more interactive, more and more inclusive, so that each and every single student from the class can partic.

His parents can relate it from his own her own experiences.

That's an innovative and inclusive approach, Professor. By creating a short drama based on existentialist themes and involving all students, you not only make complex ideas like existentialism accessible but also encourage active participation and personal engagement. The subsequent discussion further deepens their understanding by allowing them to reflect and articulate their perspectives. Let us now turn to your research publications. Could you highlight one of your most notable works and explain its key findings or contributions to the field?

Sorry to interrupt, we're down to the last 5 minutes.

OK, so uh, I have a recent publications in.

Paul Gray McMillan book That was a book chapter. I'll come to the.

Journal publication in the second part of my answer. So this particular work was a book chapter in the Palgrave Macmillan. I conducted the study from the intersectional point of view, pretty much theoretical concept and applied this theory on the diverse experiences of Muslim women in no district in Haryana. It It is one of the most impoverished districts of India.

Of

Where women women education ratio is very, very low, very this month.

So that was a contribution that I.

But we did the basically it was a collaborative work. So all all of the writers we conducted the survey, we post presented some questions in front of the participants in the VMA about their challenges of learning English language and what are their aspirations of learning the language. So it was a contribution from the language point of view. Our study was different because there have been many other studies.

On the on the educational standard of women, but exclusively the women's aspiration from English language and their difficulties and challenges were not worked upon. So we through our study, we bridge that gap. I also published one article in Economic Political Weekly. Basically these are the short articles. So I published six articles on the diverse fields on the diverse topics recently.

I I presented one paper on Hartelu Harishchand who was a proponent of Kariboli Hindi and I presented his Urdu writings and his secularist kind of approach while he was writing in Urdu. Whereas we have a different kind of approach when he talks and when he writes in Hindi.

So I bridge that gap mostly this. This is assumed that Bhartendu Harishchandra was against Urdu language. So I tried to show through my research that Har Har Bhartenu Harichandra, he himself was a Persian writer. He wrote a diwan, a very voluminous book, voluminous book in partial language, and he was a great scholar and poet of Urdu language.

Thank you, Professor, for sharing these remarkable contributions. Your work on the aspirations and challenges faced by Muslim women in learning English in an underprivileged district highlights an important, often overlooked intersection of language and empowerment. Similarly, your deep dive into Bhartendu Harishchandra’s complexities bridges historical misinterpretations and showcases an interdisciplinary depth, blending language, history, and socio-political contexts. We’re nearing the conclusion. Before we wrap up, is there anything specific you feel we haven’t covered about your teaching or research that you’d like to mention?

OK, I I think we have covered most of the aspects of learning and teaching and research.

And I'm I'm happy to reply any question regarding this, about my experience, about my pedagogy, technique.

Yes, of course. Thank you.

Thank you, Professor. You've provided a comprehensive overview of your methodologies, research, and contributions, and it has been a pleasure to engage in this discussion. If there are no further questions or points you wish to address, would you like to conclude the interview at this point?