My expertise is in postcolonial literature and theory, with an emphasis on South Asia (especially India), where I was born and raised. I also teach a variety of other courses, including graduate seminars in the novel and in literary theory; upper-division undergraduate classes in comparative literature, South Asian literature and popular culture, and writing about literature; and first-year composition and Honors humanities courses. I particularly enjoy teaching postcolonial studies and comparative literature courses since these allow me to indulge in my own passions and research interests. I’m currently completing a book on the representation and aesthetics of space in colonial India.

I also dabble in fiction, essays, and poetry in my spare time, which I’ve occasionally been able to present in our area, and I’ve given a talk on colonial India at Utah State University and on literature and religion in Idaho Falls. I’ve also written travel pieces for the local newspaper. ISU grants have helped a great deal in allowing me to travel to England and India for archival research, and I manage to show my slides of India to most of my classes (as well as clips from Bollywood films, songs from which I’m always willing to sing). Like most ISU humanities professors, I’ve found Pocatello to be a great home for the arts.

Selected Publications

My work, principally on the literature of colonial and postcolonial India, has appeared in such journals as Nineteenth-Century Contexts, Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies, Yale Journal of Criticism, the Rocky Mountain Review of Literature, and Rendezvous.

Courses Taught

I teach, or have taught, courses in postcolonial, comparative, and world literatures, graduate seminars in theory and the novel, major figures (Rushdie, Naipaul), national literature, introductory literature and composition, and an Honors Humanities class (with Theature Dept.).

Office: LA 212
Office Phone: 282-2198
johnala2@isu.edu