About

Poonam Chauhan is a Lecturer in the Hindi/Urdu department at the University of California in Davis since September 2011. Poonam has over 25 years of experience in teaching multicultural and multi-ethnic classes using interactive learning methodologies. Poonam supplements language classroom teaching with experiential activities such as quarterly cultural events- MELA (Cultural Festival), talent shows, and collaborative presentations to encourage a more comprehensive appreciation for the underlying cultural and societal traditions. Poonam teaches Beginners' and Intermediate Level classes for native and non-native speakers.

Poonam is one of the co-authors of the Hindi Course Reader first published in September 2019. Poonam has previously served as Chief Editor of the "Bhasha Patrika", a quarterly newsletter of the Hindi/Urdu program. She has also served as the faculty advisor of ME/SA Club (Middle East South Asia Club). She has also mentored student interns who have contributed to the development and enrichment of the Hindi/Urdu program.

In addition to her teaching work, Poonam has also worked with University of Arizona and University of Alabama as an external examiner, and with the American Center for Teaching of Foreign Languages as an instructor & reviewer for the Defense Language Institute (DLI). She has also worked as the language observer for the STARTALK Presidential Initiative at the National Foreign Language Center, University of Maryland. She has also assisted the California Helpline as a foreign language interpreter. Poonam has also taught Hindi to IT professionals, project managers, & entrepreneurs in the Bay Area.

Poonam received her Master of Philosophy (1985) and Master of Arts (1984) degrees in India and followed up with foreign language teaching programs from University of Pennsylvania, Center of Applied Linguistics, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.