Using Words to Explore Worlds

Jamie Barber introduces her students in Bengaluru at a public reading of their work. (Photograph courtesy Jamie Barber)

I chose to apply for a Fulbright-Nehru fellowship in India for both professional and personal reasons. I hold a position at the University at Buffalo in the professional and academic writing program. This is a busy position where I both teach and design writing curriculum. While I enjoy this work it does not leave me much time to explore my other academic and creative interests.

I have long been interested in examining the intersection of creative writing and science. One of the reasons I applied to work in India is because I discovered the Science Gallery Bengaluru, which focuses on the intersections between art and science. I felt sure I could develop programming with this organization that would include my own interests.

The personal reason I wanted a fellowship in India is due to my family. My husband is from Maharashtra and we have two children who never had the opportunity to spend time in India. The Fulbright-Nehru fellowship made it possible for me to experience new professional opportunities and also bring my family along to live in India for six months.

Turning science into art

For my fellowship, I collaborated with a few team members at Science Gallery Bengaluru to design a science-focused creative writing workshop. Participants ranging from 15 to 28 years old learned about scientific concepts related to carbon. They then worked their new knowledge into poetry, narrative nonfiction and fiction.

The workshop was an amazing experience due to the high engagement of the participants. They attended classes for 12 Saturdays, demonstrating their commitment. They also brought so much knowledge to the class. Some participants were 11th and 12th-standard students who shared what they had learned and read about carbon. Many of the participants shared knowledge on global warming or carbon emissions. One of the participants was a researcher in nanotechnology and one was specializing in carbon capture. The class felt more like a collaboration than a traditional classroom. I shared my writing expertise with them. Then together we devised ways to put science content into the writing.

Literary workshops

In addition to my creative writing workshop, I also received invitations from several academic institutions in Bengaluru to run short workshops. These include a workshop on “decolonizing the personal essay” at Christ (Deemed To Be University), one focused on science narratives at Azim Premji University, and another workshop exploring essay forms at Alliance University.

I was also invited to conduct two workshops at the American Center in Chennai. One of these focused on science storytelling and the other focused on gender justice in writing. The gender justice workshop was particularly exciting because it took place on International Women’s Day in March 2023. Students from local universities engaged in writing and conversations that explored the way language can be used to either demean or uplift women. Together we examined instances of sexism in the way women’s writing was discussed by others and sexism in the way women were written about. The students then worked together to suggest solutions to the problems of gender inequality in language and writing.

It is hard to sum up my experiences in India. I visited many beautiful places but it was my interactions with people that made my trip so incredible. I met and interacted with scholars, researchers and students. Every day I was surrounded by ideas and scholarship that pushed my thinking. I’ve been back in the United States for six months, but I’m already dreaming up ways to teach or conduct research in India again.

Jamie Barber is a clinical assistant professor and director of the journalism program at the University of Buffalo in New York.

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