Chitralekha Zutshi, Professor of History at William & Mary
Chitralekha Zutshi
La Châtaigneraie, 1991
Professor of History at William & Mary
USA
Find out more about me:
I live in Williamsburg, Virginia, on the mid-Atlantic coast of the US, and teach history at a wonderful university, William & Mary, that has been around since 1693. I’m a historian of South Asia and the Indian Ocean world and have written several books on the region of Kashmir in particular. The most recent is a biography of a controversial Kashmiri politician, entitled Sheikh Abdullah: The Caged Lion of Kashmir, published by HarperCollins, India, in its Indian Lives series, with Yale University Press co-publishing it in North America and Europe.
I have so many wonderful memories of La Châtaigneraie, but one that stands out is reading Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, for IB English and not being able to make head or tail of it. And when the point of the book gradually dawned on me during the class discussion, it was almost like a revelation. Another memory is trekking through the magnificent Jura mountains to study glaciers in IB Geography. These experiences opened up new worlds for me.
My experience at La Châtaigneraie was foundational to my choice of career as a historian. Mr. Schumann, our history teacher in IB History, first pointed out to me that I thought like a historian and should consider a career in the field. Since early on, I’ve enjoyed reading and interpreting documents from the past (written, oral, visual, and aural) and constructing a historical narrative around them. In College and beyond, I focused on history as a field of study and ultimately chose to research religious and regional identities in Kashmir for my doctoral dissertation. Since then, I’ve written books and articles on multiple facets of Kashmir’s history and politics.
I would not trade my experience at La Châtaigneraie for anything. And I think that a career as a historian is particularly suited to my talents and interests. An alternate career might have been that of a palaeontologist, studying the natural history of our planet.
My words of wisdom for Ecolint students: Don’t take your education for granted. Cherish every moment and learn as much as you can from your teachers and peers. You will never again get such an opportunity in your lifetime.
What legacy do you want to leave? During this era of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), I want to encourage students to consider studying the humanities, because the humanities help us to make sense of our world. This is a skill that you can take with you and apply to any future endeavour.