Janet Um

Janet Um is a Lecturer in Sanskrit Language and Literature at the Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley (2022) and specializes in Sanskrit literature and the literary histories of premodern South Asia.

• Education: Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 2022

Her research explores the interplay between narrative structures, literary genres, and authorship in Sanskrit prose literature. She is broadly interested in narrative traditions across South Asia, the aesthetics of sociability, gender history, and Sanskrit language pedagogy. She teaches courses such as Religion in South Asia (ASIA 258), examining Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Buddhism in their historical and contemporary contexts.

Her teaching emphasizes in-person and synchronous online engagement, reflecting her commitment to interactive language and cultural education.