Purdue University Northwest Welcomes Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence

PNW will be hosting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Mashrur Shahid Hossain, professor of English from Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh. Hossain will be teaching several classes at PNW for the 2022 summer and fall semesters.

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) has been selected to host a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for the 2022 summer and fall semesters. Mashrur Shahid Hossain, professor of English at Jahangirnagar University (JU) in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, will teach classes, give scholarly and informational presentations and advise faculty on developing the curriculum in his areas of expertise.

“Fulbright scholars are highly respected specialists in their fields and earning a Fulbright grant is an extraordinary honor that recognizes the scholar’s preeminence and influence in their discipline,” says Colette Morrow, professor of English and director of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at PNW. “Serving as the institutional host of a Fulbright scholar is a mark of distinction that increases the international and national visibility of Purdue Northwest and the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.”

Hossain, who earned his bachelor and master’s degrees in English and a Master of Philosophy from Jahangirnagar University, was previously a Scholar-in-Residence at the Centre for Contemporary Theory in Baroda, India, in 2009.

“There are three things I’m looking to gain from my time at Purdue Northwest,” explains Hossain. “First-hand exposure to North American academia and pedagogy, an online and in-person collaboration between PNW and my university and a better grasp of the implications of culture in American literature by experiencing the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural communities of the United States.”

Hossain is an expert in literature and gender and sexuality studies. His areas of scholarly work and interests include comparative literature, postcolonialism, minority discourse, queer theories, gender studies, cultural studies, media studies, critical pedagogy and research methodology. He will teach literature and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at PNW, as well as work with Karen Bishop-Morris, associate professor of English at PNW, supporting the Northwest Indiana Writing Project.

“Students and the university will benefit from Dr. Hossain’s contributions in numerous ways,” says Morrow. “He is offering courses and public presentations in areas that are not extensively explored at Purdue Northwest and are considered highly important areas of study worldwide. His scholarship is at the intersection of Queer Theories and Crip, Diaspora and Literary Studies. He has published extensively in these fields and bringing these perspectives to PNW creates opportunities for students to pursue them under the tutelage of an expert.” Morrow added that Hossain will also be advising how to incorporate these areas into the existing curriculum at PNW, especially in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

“I’m looking forward to teaching and meeting students at Purdue Northwest,” says Hossain. “I consider students as explorers and I design and conduct my classes accordingly. I want to activate their interests and imagination so they are motivated and able to collect and use insights seriously and lovingly.”

Selected for the Fulbright award by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, Hossain is one of nearly forty Fulbright Scholars-in-Residence, and among 1,000 outstanding foreign faculty and professionals who will teach and/or research in the United States for the 2021-2022 academic year.