Alumni Spotlight: Madhumita Gupta

Madhumita Gupta’s professional life is multifaceted and could be described as both Alt Ac and academic. After graduating with an M.A. in literature and a Certificate in Nineteenth Century Studies in 2018, she moved back to her home country of India. Today she works as an educator, a translator, an editor, and a freelance writer in the city of Alwar.

Her work as an educator has taken several different forms. She works with secondary school students in her roles as an assistant examiner for the International Baccalaureate, a global nonprofit educational organization, and as a writing mentor for Scholastic, the largest children’s book publisher in the world. Moreover, she educates teachers as a teacher trainer for the English Language and Literature Trainer, a training and development wing of Oxford University Press.

Gupta’s translation of a collection of Bengali stories by nineteenth-century writer Upendrakishore Roy Chowdhury was published in 2021 as Tuntuni and Other Jungle Tales from Bengal. Additionally, as part of her position at Scholastic, she and her students crafted a Scholastic anthology titled Weavers of Wonder, which has recently been published.

What are you currently excited about in your professional life?

There are three things that I’m doing currently. I’m an assistant examiner for the International Baccalaureate. Here, what I’m enjoying most is how articulate these kids are—the topics they are picking up, the way they are speaking, the depth of knowledge they have. I am learning so much from them! I feel like less of an examiner, more of a student. So that I find most exciting. Another thing is that I’m getting students from all over the world; that adds to it.

The second thing is that I am a writing mentor for Scholastic. So again, young kids, such bright minds, and I get a chance to spend twenty hours with them, talk to them. That I really enjoy—being with younger people. And… I will show you my first book! (holding up Weavers of Wonder, the Scholastic anthology that resulted from her work with students as a writing mentor) It arrived today. This was (from) the first group (of students) which I mentored, and the book just came out. It’s the first. I am looking forward to many more!

The other thing, which is with Oxford University Press, is that I am a teacher trainer. The exciting part there is that I get to travel all over India. They take really good care of their mentors, and I get to see a lot of new places I never thought I would ever visit! … For the last two years, it has been online (because of COVID), but before that, I was traveling, and that was cool. And I was able to stay in those swanky hotels, interact with teachers all over India, and visit so many schools. I did not like traveling that much (previously), but this was fun.

It’s fun interacting with both sides (teachers and students). You hear the teachers, hear the students. Then I get to hear my students gripe about teachers, teachers gripe about students… (chuckling)

What comes to mind as a favorite memory from your time at UNL?

Apart from the classes I took, the best part was also teaching. When I was teaching my first class, I was worried (that the students might think), “Here is an Asian person. My native language is English. What is she going to teach me?” And then the quick acceptance that they have—that was the most wonderful part. In a matter of days, they were like, “Yes, we are ready to listen to you.” That was lovely… such a wonderful experience. I look back at that with a lot of satisfaction. It was a lovely period.

Of the classes that you took, is there a favorite that stands out in your memory?

The best one was also my first one, which was Dr. Fran Kaye’s class. Her class was the liveliest—the most interesting discussions and very open classes. She was like the best part of UNL, the way she taught. As a teacher, I also learned so much from her. Teaching (at UNL) was very different from how I’d taught in India. I would think, “Fran did this, maybe I should also do this,” that type of thing. She was so wonderful.

Were there other professors who had a significant influence on you?

Julia Schleck. She never taught me (in a class), but as the graduate chair, she was someone I could always count upon. Always very encouraging. Since before my admission until now, she is always there for any advice.

Dr. B (Stephen Behrendt). He’s still there, still in touch. Wonderful person. Anything goes wrong, and you go crying to him, and he’s there. I did my first conference, and I wasn’t even sure about the topic, and I took the seven, eight pages to him. He patiently sat through it, worked with me, and I got into that conference.

Debbie Minter is another. So supportive! Bev (Beverley Rilett) and Liz Lorang. She (Liz Lorang) taught this advanced research class. Before I went to UNL, the extent of my research was Google. So you can understand. And again, she was such a patient soul and held my hand through every bit of advanced research.

Bev. She was my adviser for my thesis as well. I maybe would not have completed my thesis had it not been for her.

… Can I mention someone who’s not in the English department? In Modern Languages, she is a professor and, I think, currently the chair as well: Isabel Velázquez. Another very positive influence on me. I got to know her through my son (Aditya Gupta), who was also a student there (at UNL), which was the funny part: we were both students there at the same time! He is still there (in the United States); he is a professor with ISU (Illinois State University).

How did your degree prepare you for what you do now?

I think it really helped that I had a degree from UNL. Otherwise, the International Baccalaureate might not have considered me. And similarly, I think that this degree helped me with Oxford (University Press) as well as with Scholastic.

And (it has prepared me for) when I'm actually teaching, whether it is the teachers or the students. As I said, I picked up certain things from Fran, certain other things from somebody else, and I sort of mixed it all up for my own classes. Now, when I hear from my students, “I like this best about your classes,” it's like, I learned this from her in such and such a class, I learned that from her in another class. Also the UNL classes which I was teaching, like: This works, this completely doesn't work. Some of the experiments I tried there were as successful here.

It was chalk and talk, mostly, until I was teaching (at UNL). When I taught in India before going to UNL, it was mostly lectures, and since I was teaching language, it was also a lot of grammar. But actually, thinking about argument, thinking about how you are expressing everything—those things now matter a lot for what I'm teaching these days. So UNL definitely helped.

What are your favorite memories of extracurricular activities?

We (a group of volunteers from UNL) participated in the Big Event, for which students volunteer all across Lincoln, like cleaning up yards, painting stuff... We spruced up a yard owned by two elderly ladies. They took care of baby animals and then gave them to the zoo or (to places like animal sanctuaries). There were baby squirrels! That was one for the bucket list, to hold a squirrel. And I got to do that. That was one of the loveliest memories.

Another was when Fran took us to the state penitentiary. We got to interact with the inmates; we actually had a party with all the people there. That was amazing. That I used to share with my students as well: “What exactly is freedom?” You cannot know unless you’ve been in the prison... There was a Native American (inmate) who spoke about that—freedom. He did not say what he had done, but he said, “I did something that I will regret forever, because it’s not just me behind the prison, behind bars, but my family who is suffering, more than me.” I’m never going to forget that. Until I went to the prison, I never knew what actual freedom is. Like, how many people it can affect.

What were your favorite places in Lincoln?

So many of them! I would say the whole campus, but if I had to pick, I would say Sheldon (Museum of Art). The place behind Sheldon, like where that tree—Is it a magnolia which has pink flowers?—I know that tree…

And Andrews (Hall), obviously. It’s like home. And both the libraries—Love (Library) and (the Adele Hall Learning) Commons.

In the city, the very colorful sort of pillar just beside The Coffee House (the 57-foot-tall, multi-colored glass tower at 13th and P Streets).

And Sunken Gardens! These days (in the spring), that was the loveliest. (If someone felt like,) “It’s too much thesis, too much with classes, (or felt like they were) not doing well or whatever,” I would say, “Let’s go to Sunken Gardens!” And now, I think the tulips must be out, so it should be beautiful.

You know the funny thing? The U.S. is full of beautiful places, beautiful cities, but my benchmark is Lincoln. Like, this doesn’t quite compare to Lincoln. There are those people who say, “But it’s so flat.” I say, “So what’s wrong with flat? You can see right up to the horizon.”