Since September 2014, the Department of Asian Studies has been awarding annual prizes to two Lecturers to recognize and celebrate excellence in teaching in the Lecturer rank. Our first 2023/2024 Lecturer of The Year is Janet Um.
Janet Um
Lecturer in Sanskrit Language and Literature
Janet Um joined the Department of Asian Studies in 2022 immediately after completing her PhD at University of California at Berkeley in South and Southeast Asian Studies, and in her short time with us she has made herself invaluable through her enthusiastic and useful contributions to several aspects of the department.
First, she is an exceptional instructor who exemplifies the qualities of a dedicated and inspiring educator. Janet possesses a commanding knowledge of Sanskrit grammar and classical Indian culture, teaching our Sanskrit 300 and 400 courses. She also demonstrates remarkable versatility as an instructor, offering a variety of content courses on the literature, culture, and history of pre-modern India and South Asia, including a new course this year on Buddhist Narratives in South Asia. Her complete revamping of existing courses, such as The Sanskrit Cosmopolis: India and the World, 200-1500 CE, Narrative Literature in Premodern India, and Poetic Life in Classical India, among others, have greatly enriched the department’s course offerings on traditional and ancient India.
One of Janet’s primary goals in content-based courses is to foster critical engagement among her students, encouraging them to connect with both ideas and each other. She creates numerous opportunities for interactions and creative inquiry, urging students to draw meaningful connections with the real world. She demonstrates a strong commitment to student accessibility, and has redesigned a number of existing syllabi according to the principles of universal and inclusive design, as well as redesigning courses to enhance and facilitate collaborative learning.
Beyond the classroom, Janet has been a regular attendee at a wide range of department events, and has promoted the Sanskrit program at various student-facing outreach activities. She has served on faculty search committees, and even when not a committee member has been notable for attending all the job talks and providing constructive, useful feedback to search committee members.
Again, although Janet has not been with us long, she has made herself an extremely valued member of the department, and we are delighted to present to her the Lecturer of the Year award.
