​Dr. Mitali Pati Wong

Dr. Mitali P. Wong is a tenured professor of English at Claflin University. A naturalized American citizen, Mitali Wong is originally from Kolkata in India. She has lived in the United States for over thirty years.

Biography

Dr. Mitali P. Wong has taught university courses in the United States, Canada, and India. She is married to Dr. Eugene F. Wong, a retired professor. They have two daughters Paramita and Sumitra who are scientists. Mitali Wong is interested in cooking, reading, exercise, and pets. She enjoys helping people and making new friends.

Dr. Wong received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Manitoba in Canada.She has studied eight languages. She received the James E. Hunter Award for Excellence in Teaching in 200, and the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2015. In 2012 and 2013, she served as project director for a National Endowment for Humanities grant for $99,992. She has also received other smaller grants including UNCF Mellon grants in her previous institution and at Claflin University. She wrote Claflin's funded proposal for the US-India Knowledge Initiative project with the University of Calcutta. The funded amount is $242,000. She has also served as editor of other funded grants for Claflin University. Mitali Wong has published articles on Christopher Marlowe, Canadian poet Robert Kroetsch, Asian American writer Bharati Mukherjee, women in Indian films, and the Chinese feminist writer Zhang Jie. Her most recent book is The English Language Poetry of South Asians (2013) .Research for this book was partially supported by one semester of sabbatical leave and a summer research grant at Claflin University. She has published Politics and Tropes in Renaissance History Plays(2006). She is the first author of The Fiction of South Asians in North America and the Caribbean (2004) co-authored by Dr. Zia Hasan. All of her published books were partially supported by summer research grants at Claflin. Mitali Wong is jointly contracted with for a book on Sri Lankans’ Views on English in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Eras, and is currently working towards a book contract for a co-edited anthology on contemporary South Asian poetry.

Mitali Wong's philosophy of teaching incorporates a variety of learning styles. Her methodology of undergraduate instruction emphasizes step-by-step process as basic to students’ research and writing. She uses a variety of teaching techniques to keep students actively involved with the course content. She stresses the importance of innovative hands-on student-generated projects to foster lifelong independent learning. Her lesson plans are crafted to meet the needs of each learning group especially with regard to building critical thinking skills. She incorporates intensive writing and research methods into all her courses as a foundation for independent scholarly research in graduate school.

Advisement with frequent conferencing is a very important aspect of Mitali Wong's teaching methodology. She is available to students after 5 p.m. and on weekends if they need to contact her Advisement encourages excellence by monitoring students’ progress very closely. She is committed to the belief that nurturing university students in a pleasant and friendly environment builds their trust and self-confidence in Claflin’s academic programs.

Education

• Ph.D. in English, University of Manitoba,Winnipeg, Canada
• M.A. in English, Jadavpur University,Kolkata (Calcutta), India
• B.A. (Honors) in English, University of Calcutta , Kolkata (Calcutta), India
• Postdoctoral research training: Project on South Asian and Asian American women writers, Department of Comparative Literature, University of Georgia,
• Languages studied: Classical: Latin, Sanskrit. European: French, German, Spanish Asian: Hindi, Bengali, Oriya.

Research Interests

• South Asian Literature
• Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century British Literature
• Gender Studies
• Postcolonial Studies

Experience

Dr. Mitali Wong has taught in three countries and has developed her teaching philosophy based on her observation of the needs of students. In the United States, she has taught in private and public colleges in the states of Connecticut, Georgia, and South Carolina. She has developed her student-centered teaching methods based on her experiences with students in three states.

Activities and Honors

• South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2015
• Ph.D. dissertations external examiner for four universities in India: Aligarh Muslim University, Vidyasagar University, Mother Teresa's Women's University, Bharathiar University.
• UNCF Mellon Faculty Teaching and Learning Institute 2015 collaborative grant with Dr. Belinda Wheeler (PI) and Dr. Peggy Ratliff. Title: Preparing Global Leaders by Enhancing Student Engagement with World Literature and Culture
• Organized international collaboration with the University of Calcutta in India and wrote proposal for Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative Award 2013 (received 2014), Indian rupees equivalent of $272,000 approximately
• First-Year Experience Instructor of the Year for the Department of English and Foreign Languages, 2012-2013
• Project director, Humanities Initiatives Grant for $99,992 (January 2012-December 2013) from National Endowment for Humanities. Title: Classical and Contemporary Literature from South Asia
• Selected as a National Endowment for Humanities grant reviewer, March 22, 2012
• Who’s Who Among American Women, 2007
• Claflin University grant for enhancement of composition program (collaborative), 2004 ($10,000)
• James E. Hunter Award for Excellence in Teaching, Claflin University, 2001
• “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers”, 2000, 2004
• UNCF-Prudential Faculty Development Seminar Grant for workshops on critical thinking ($15,000), 1994-95

Recent Publications

Books

The English-Language Poetry of South Asians: A Critical Study. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2013.

Politics and Tropes in Renaissance History Plays: Understanding Neglected Genre. New York: Mellen, 2006.

Fiction of South Asians in North America and the Caribbean co-authored by Zia Hasan. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2004.

Review

Book review by invitation for South Asian Atlantic Literature 1970-2010. Journal of American Studies vol 48, no.1 (2014). Cambridge Journals Online. Web.

Recent Presentations

“Hybridity and dislocation in the poetry of Arnold Itwaru and Sasenarine Persaud”, 20th Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 26, 2011, Savannah, GA.

“The Transnational Poetics of Contemporary Indian Poetry in English”, 21st Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February18, 2012, Savannah, GA.

“The English language as a signifier of social stratification in the literary texts of Sri Lankan writers”, 22nd Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 16, 2013, Savannah, GA.

“The Challenges of Selecting Course Content on South Asia”, October 2, 2013,Twelfth Claflin University Conference on Contemporary English and Language Arts Pedagogy in Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions, Savannah, GA

Panel chair for “Teaching Texts from South Asia through an Interdisciplinary Literary Lens” 23rd Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 15, 2014, Savannah, GA.

“Teaching a mini semester study abroad course on India: a learning experience for the instructor”,23rd Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 15, 2014, Savannah, GA.

"Teaching Pearl Cleage, Nissim Ezekiel, Kamala Das, and Khaled Hosseini in First-Year English" College Language Association Convention, April 9, 2015, Dallas, TX.

“Daughters of the South Asian diaspora in the United States: Exploring racial issues in the poetry of Vandana Khanna, Pireeni Sundaralingam, and Dilruba Ahmed”, 24th Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 13, 2015,Savannah, GA.

Presenter in "Preparing Global Leaders by Enhancing Student Engagement with World Literature and Culture: A Roundtable",25th Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 26, 2016,Savannah, GA.

Panel chair for "Special Undergraduate Panel", 25th Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference, February 27, 2016,Savannah, GA.