Ritu Jayakar

Ritu Jayakar is a Lecturer of Hindi and Asian Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, affiliated with the Department of Asian Studies in the College of the Liberal Arts. She has been teaching Hindi at Penn State since 2008, initially as a hobby that evolved into a dedicated career. Her courses include foundational Hindi language levels (HINDI 1–4), intermediate Hindi (HINDI 110), and a course on Bollywood and South Asian culture (ASIA107N).

• Education:
• M.A. in Hindi Urdu Pedagogy, Kean University, New Jersey
• M.A. in Journalism, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
• ACTFL OPI Tester Full Certification in Hindi

Her research focuses on inclusive pedagogies, technology integration in language learning, and heritage language retention. She actively contributes to professional development through presentations at conferences like StarTalk, SALTA, and ACTFL. She also maintains an online presence through the Hindi @ PSU initiative.