Alex Chand

Tell us a bit about yourself? 

I studied both physics and English literature as an undergraduate student in the US. I tried to convince myself that I wanted to do biophysics research forever, but instead I found myself spending time on my honours thesis examining the representation of racialised autism and cognitive difference in contemporary poetry and how that representation is complicated by the use of postcolonial metaphors to describe disability.  

For fun: my favourite colour is yellow, I once swam the 400 IM in the B final at a swim meet and one of the most challenging things I have done is sing the soprano part of Brahm’s Eis deutsches Requiem (over an hour, with over a hundred people, all in German). I am a dual citizen of the US and Canada. 

Why did you choose to study your particular course and why did you choose the University of Leeds? 

Early on in my research efforts as an undergraduate student (circa 2019), before I even knew the intellectual adventure I had just embarked on would become an honours thesis, I came across Stuart Murray’s book, Representing Autism, and the Cambridge Companion to Literature and Disability (edited by Clare Barker and Stuart Murray, both of the University of Leeds). I decided I would love to come to Leeds given my interests in disability studies, medical humanities and the postcolonial. When I told my undergraduate academic advisor that I wanted to apply for the University of Leeds Fulbright postgraduate award, he said, ‘that sounds like a perfect fit!’. I was elated when I got an email in the spring of 2022 with the good news about my Fulbright study/research award application. 

What is it that makes you passionate about your area of study? 

What began as a few hours in the library searching for titles like The Disability Studies Reader as an undergraduate (whilst avoiding physics problem sets) in a quest to make sense of how racialised disability is represented in contemporary literature and media—and how those representations impacted my own personal experiences of being “othered” as someone who is disabled and of Indo-Fijian descent—quickly turned into specific research questions that were too large to keep under wraps. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to see what would happen if I let my informal quest become a larger research project. I joined listservs and started reading everything I could either find in the library or request through Interlibrary Loan. I eventually wrote an undergraduate honours thesis, Charting Autistic Voices, in 2022, and have since expanded on my initial research efforts as a graduate student.  

What aspects of the course do you enjoy the most? 

I enjoyed the flexibility to choose my own essay topics and draft an MA research project that is both critical and creative. Some highlights: I looked at a 17th century manuscript in the University of Leeds Special Collections, created a poem meant to be read in a series of three-dimensional configurations, and wrote a wild essay thinking about contemporary, digital paratextual framings of Linton Kwesi Johnson’s poetry and how that framing amplifies the way he works with material fragments in his poems. 

Have you worked closely with a particular tutor or member of the University’s academic staff? Tell us about that experience.   

I loved working with Amelia DeFalco, my research project supervisor. Amelia has also written about the text I am looking at for my MA research project, but we have taken different approaches to it; it has been fun chatting about where our projects diverge. We also discussed navigating academia and conference presentations, which has been extremely useful. Amelia connected me with Kimberly Campanello, another poet, and it was great meeting with her as well! 

I also established a great rapport with my academic personal tutor, Nick Ray. Whenever I had any course-related questions, needed help interpreting feedback, or wanted to discuss challenges specific to graduate school, I met with Nick. I also got to meet his greyhound! 

What activities outside of your studies were you involved in? 

I am currently working on a play and got to present an extract at a Leeds Playhouse Scratch Night last June. I received a CePRA (Centre for Practice Research in the Arts) grant from the University of Leeds, which I am using alongside a commission from Bradford Producing Hub to (eventually) coordinate an international Zoom conversation with disabled and global majority theatre artists. 

I was also part of the 2022-2023 Barbican Young Poets cohort, based out of the Barbican Centre in London and facilitated by Jacob Sam-LaRose. I loved commuting down to London every few weeks for workshops and made new poet-friends! We wrapped up the year last May with a showcase, where I read some poems and facilitated a workshop on Physics and Poetry.  

One of my poet-friends from BYP, Francis, encouraged me to try out for the Leeds UniSlam team. I ended up participating in UniSlam last year alongside Bonnie (a fellow MA student in the School of English) and some wonderful undergraduate students (Eben, Phoebe, Olive, and Alice) studying at the University of Leeds. We placed second! 

Some other adventures from my year at Leeds: a fell race at Ilkley Moor, trips to Glasgow and Belfast with my Fulbright cohort from the US, a trip to A+E after an accident involving my can opener, hiking Ben Nevis, trying out for the BBC’s University Challenge, meeting the US ambassador to the UK, walks around Roundhay park with my friends, orienteering, losing my phone on the London Underground...  

What do you plan to do when you have finished your course, and how do you think the skills and knowledge you have developed so far at Leeds will help with these plans?  

After last year, I feel much more confident in my academic writing skills and ability to conduct research independently. I most recently gave a presentation at a conference based on my MA research project (in progress) and am currently revising one of my module essays from last year to submit to academic journals.  

I am currently based in Oxford, Mississippi, where I am reading an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi. The work I did on my course at Leeds has directly informed my work at the University of Mississippi: a poetry sequence I began writing on the Writing Identities module now forms part of my MFA thesis, for instance, and I have been able to draw on the reading I did last year to inform what I teach in my discussion sections with undergraduate students. After I wrap up my existing projects (MA research project, MFA thesis and play), I would love to find a way to sustain both my academic research and creative practice full-time, whether that is in a university setting or somewhere else. 

What would you say to students thinking about studying your course? 

The taught MA is a strange, liminal space between undergraduate and the unknown. Embrace the unknown, join research groups in the school, connect with PGRs and staff, and be open to growing as a researcher and writer. Always challenge yourself to produce your best work and ask questions! 

What does Leeds as a city have to offer students? 

Good people, good food and good times.  

What company are you going to be working for, what is your role and what will it involve? 

I loved working with undergraduate students this past year in my role as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Mississippi. I facilitated small group discussions, met with students, delivered a guest lecture, and marked essays for undergraduate English literature modules. My students were eager to improve their close reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Next year, I will teach first-year writing and composition as an instructor-of-record. I hope to design a module for undergraduate students on disability and literature next year as well.  

More broadly, though, my current job is being a graduate student, which entails many things: doing research, writing my MFA thesis alongside papers for literature seminars, revising said writing, connecting with other researchers who share similar interests, navigating barriers as a disabled student, applying for grants, presenting at conferences, and instructing undergraduate students.