Dr. Shweta Rao

Dr. Shweta Rao
Phone : 01905-237919
EMail : shweta[at]iitmandi[dot]ac[dot]in
Address : School of Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Mandi, PWD Rest House 2nd floor,
near Bus Stand, Mandi - 175001
India

Research interests

  • Food and Cultural Studies
  • Postcolonial Literatures
  • Feminism

Education

  • PhD from Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Roorkee in 2010
  • M.A. in English from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2006
  • B.A. with English from C.U.Shah Arts College under Gujarat University in 2004.

Awards

  • Recipient of Fulbright Doctoral Fellowship to University of Illinois Urbana Champaign from August 2009 to May 2010
  • Awarded Junior Library Fellowship by Forum on Contemporary Theory, Baroda on May 2008
  • Won "Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Prize" from Sahitya Akademi in 2007
  • Awarded Gold Medal in English by Gujarat University and Gujarat Law Society Gold Medal for Arts in 2004
  • Awarded Graduation Scholarship by MHRD in 2004-2005

Publications

Research Papers

  • “Cookery or Creativity? A Study of the Culinary Fiction of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Amulya Maladi and Esther David” Co-authored with Khushu-Lahiri Accepted in In-Between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism.
  • “Ghastly Gravies: Food Images and Body in Bharati Mukherjee's Wife and Jasmine.” Co-authored with Khushu-Lahiri. Accepted in Journal of School Languages.
  • "What's Cooking? Cookery and Creativity in The Mistress of Spices, Serving Crazy with Curry and Book of Rachel". Co-authored with Rajyashree Khushu-Lahiri. Crossings:ULAB Journal of English Studies. Vol 2 Number 1. 2009.
  • "The Theatre of Subversion: A Case from Kannada Theatre". Co-authored with Khushu-Lahiri. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Department. Volume 3, Number 1. June 2009.
  • "Indian on a Platter: A Study of Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges's Cinematic Adaptation of The Mistress of Spices." Co-authored with Khushu-Lahiri. Postcolonial Text. Volume 4, Number 2, 2008.
  • "The Mistress and her Spices" co-authored with Khushu-Lahiri. Apperceptions. Volume 4, 2008.

Book Chapter

  • “Indian Wife in American Kitchen: A Study of Wife”. Co-authored with Rajyashree Khushu-Lahiri. Bharati Mukherjee: Critical Perspectives. Ed. Somdatta Mandal. Pencraft Books. New Delhi, 2010. 134-143.

Edited Volume

  • Edited “Food in Indian Literature” Muse India, May-June 2011.
    Click here

Creative Writing and Translations

  • Interview with Esther David, Muse India, May-June 2011.
  • “ms word” and “English studies in the Age of (Mechanical) Engineering” in Transnational Literature. Volume 3 Issue 1, November 2010.
  • “Spanish Omelette” in The Editors Choice Contemporary Short Stories in Indian English. Ed. Sunil Sharma and Jaydeep Sarangi, GNOSIS, New Delhi, 2010.
  • "Perfect Cake." Menupoems. Alimentum: The Literature of Food. April 2010.
  • "Sing Jo-Jo: Translations of Lullabies from Karnataka" in Glorious Trends: Indian Writings, Films and Translations. Ed. Jaydeep Sarangi. Book Enclave, New Delhi 2010.
  • "Filmy Poems". Re-markings. Volume 8, Number 2, September 2009.
  • "Tea and other Poems". Muse India. Issue 25, May - June 2009.
  • "Colonial Commode" Postcolonial Text. Volume 4, Number 4, 2008.
  • "Are these the Marks of Blow?" Indian Literature. Volume 242, 2008.

Conferences

  • “Virtual Kitchens: Food and Community in Media.” 13th International Conference Forum for Contemporary Theory, Chandigarh, 15-18th December 2010.
  • "Men in Kitchen: Bawarchi and Cheeni Kum." Annual Conference on Food Representation in Literature, Film and Other Arts Conference. University of San Antonio, Texas, February 2010.
  • "The Theatre of Subversion: A Study of the Selected Plays by H.S. Shiva Prakash." Sahitya Akademi National Symposium on Ethnicity, Identity and Contemporary Indian Literature, Roorkee. April 2008.
  • "India on a Platter: A Study of Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayed Berges's Cinematic Adaptation of The Mistress of Spices" co-presented with Khushu-Lahiri. IACLALS Annual Conference, Udaipur, January 2008.
  • "Un-Indian Indian: A Study of English August." International Seminar on the Idea of India in Indian English Novels. M. S University, Baroda 2005.

Public Talks

  • "Food Images and Identity in the Selected Fiction of Three Indian American Women Writers". Asian American Studies Centre, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, April 2010.
  • "What's Cooking? Culinary Images in Selected Women's Writings". Special Lecture Series, Forum for Contemporary Theory, Baroda. May 2008.
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