AAST Welcomes Dr. Binod Paudyal as New Teaching Faculty
Binod Paudyal is a new lecturer in the Asian American Studies Program at UMD. Prior to joining AAST program, he developed and taught a range of courses in Asian American studies and general ethnic studies in the Ethnic Studies Program at Northern Arizona University. As a core faculty, he served on the Steering Committee and the Curriculum Development Committee, contributing to make decisions on Ethnic Studies Program’s academic affairs and on new course proposals and other curriculum items. He also played an instrumental role in building a strong foundation for Asian American studies track within the program, as well as in strategizing the development of an Ethnic Studies major at NAU.
Dr. Paudyal’s research and teaching interests include Asian American studies, comparative race and ethnic studies, Asian American literature and film, South Asian American literature, as well as global diaspora and postcolonial studies. His research is principally concerned with examining issues of culture, ethnicity, race, (national) identity, diaspora, and migration, particularly by looking at the intersectional relationships between US race relations, an Asian American critique of American imperialism, and the diverse Asian migratory trajectories to the United States. His research, with its emphasis on transnational methodologies, strives to counter and develop alternatives to the exclusionary ideologies and practices of nationalism and promote inclusivity and diversity pertaining to issues of social justice— on a global scale. He is currently working on a book-length monograph, The Trouble with Identity: Asian American Literature in the 21st Century, which investigates new ways of thinking about and understanding the identities in the 21st century, marked by the “global war on terror,” migrant and refugee crisis, and the complex global conditions, in order to expand the geographical and thematic scope of Asian American literary studies.
Dr. Paudyal earned his PhD in English (American studies emphasis) from the University of Utah, MA in American Studies from Utah State University, MA in English from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and Certification in Postcolonial Studies from Cornell University.