October 13, 2023

Indian film director Abhijit Chowdhury joins the Cinema & Television Department, housed in Drexel’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, this year as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. Abhijit is based in the city of Kolkata, capital of the state of West Bengal. He will be on campus for the Fall '23 and Winter '24 quarters. In addition to teaching classes for both the Screenwriting & Playwriting and Film & Television programs, he will engage with students and faculty on projects, participating in academic and cultural engagements outside of Drexel, and working on his own creative endeavors. 

Program Director Matt Kaufhold and Prof. Jeff Stanley, of Screenwriting & Playwriting, led the effort to bring this exciting filmmaker to campus. Chowdhury is known for riding the streaming wave currently sweeping India's many regions and markets. Jeff met and worked with Chowdhury while Jeff was a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in India several years ago.

The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence (S-I-R) Program is a unique Fulbright Scholar Program initiative that is specifically driven by the goals of U.S. institutions of higher education to enhance internationalization efforts on their campuses. Through the S-I-R Program, institutions host a scholar from outside of the United States for a semester or full academic year to teach courses, assist in curriculum development, guest lecture, develop study abroad/exchange partnerships and engage with the campus and the local community. S-I-Rs work across departments and curricula in a variety of ways to widely enhance or expand an existing international program, develop new world area studies programs, add an international dimension to existing coursework or provide an opportunity for U.S. students to learn about a particular world region or country.