Poulomi Saha, GR'11

Ph.D. candidate, School of Arts and Sciences

For Poulomi Saha, a Ph.D. candidate in English in the School of Arts and Sciences, the study of literature is not an exercise in mining meaning from dusty volumes.

It is about personal passion and the potential to heal cultural wounds half a world away. “[My work is concerned with] the ways in which, during nationalist movements, the female body becomes a weapon of warfare,” says Poulomi, a former Fulbright Scholar. “I’m interested in looking at how we can think about recuperating that female body, and thinking about what it means to repair trauma.”

These are lofty goals, but at Penn, she says, very reasonable ones. “I think at Penn, and at the English Department in particular, there are exciting things happening, revolutionary things, in fact, happening every day,” Poulomi says. “So much of the faculty is committed to interdisciplinary work, which is really pushing the boundaries of what we know as English.” In Penn, Poulomi has found a place where her desire to apply her work in literature to real-world issues is encouraged and nourished.

At the same time, Poulomi’s practical, academic interest had begun as a “totally personal project,” she says. As a result, it means a great deal to her to be the recipient of a Benjamin Franklin Fellowship, which guarantees her full funding for five years. “All my tuition is paid for, I have a stipend, and I have health insurance, which is fantastic,” Poulomi explains. “It means that I can work on the things that I am passionate about and not worry about having a job, not worry about paying the bills, and really just focus on my scholarship.”

Learn more about graduate and professional student aid at Penn >
Meet more Penn People >