LMC Graduate Works in Progress Series: Megharaj Adhikari

By Rachel Brady

The Spring 2025 installment of the Literature, Media, and Culture Graduate Works in Progress Series (LMC-WIPS) is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 12. Megharaj Adhikari, a doctoral candidate in English-Literature, Media, and Culture, will present his research on Nepal’s physical and historical connections to the Indian Ocean, in the Williams Building Common Room at 3:30 p.m.

“This setting is both exciting and challenging, as the expectations of such a knowledgeable audience may, obviously, vary,” Adhikari says. “However, I’m certain that their insights will provide invaluable feedback to enhance my research skills and refine my work.”

English Associate Professor Christina Parker-Flynn organizes the series, allowing graduate students in the LMC Program to present their work to peers and professors.

“I think that graduate students appreciate the sense of community the program engenders, and the sense of visibility it can bring to their work, in whatever stage it might be in.” she says.

Frances Cushing Erving Professor of English Aaron Jaffe is Adhikari’s faculty advisor, and he commends him for exceptional dedication to scholarship, collegiality, and mentorship, setting a high standard in the department.

“Megharaj built a strong foundation as a scholar and teacher in Nepal before joining FSU,” Jaffe adds. “His dissertation research breaks new ground in modernist studies by examining the intersection of elemental media, ‘peak modernism,’ and postcolonial approaches to the sublime.”

In Adhikari’s WIPS presentation, titled "Land(un)locked, Landlinked, and the Oceanic Network," he investigates historical movement patterns by focusing on the flow of water and people. He uses an interdisciplinary lens to analyze water documentaries, climate change, labor migration, and the flow of commodities and people.

The ongoing series provides a community for participating graduate students to polish their work and to build each other up, an environment that Adhikari treasures for himself and others.

“I’m honored and grateful for Dr. Christina Parker-Flynn for arranging this exciting opportunity for LMC grad students within the department surrounded by distinguished professors and versatile colleagues with diverse expertise in literary scholarship,” he says.

To learn more about Adhikari’s research, accompanied by Jaffe’s faculty response, be sure to attend this current installment in the LMC-WIPS.

Rachel Brady is an English-Editing, Writing, and Media major, with a minor in innovation.

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