UPDATE: I earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Science from Boston University in 2017. Please see my current website here: https://scholar.princeton.edu/srishti-nayak

I am a Postdoctoral Lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program at Princeton University, where I teach the freshman writing seminars Being and Becoming  and Acting Like Adults, and conduct research in Developmental Science.

My research primarily focuses on cognitive and neural development in bilingual children, and on understanding the neurocognitive correlates of executive function skills in children. My other research interests include understanding how emotional and motivational factors affect cognitive abilities, how socioeconomic status relates to neurocognitive abilities early in life, and how bi-dialectical adults understand and make choices about dialect use. My research methodologies include Electroencephalography (EEG), and cognitive and psycholinguistic experimental techniques. My research has been funded by a number of Doctoral grants through Boston University, and Faculty grants through Princeton University.

In addition to experimenting on children’s brains (in a completely non-evil way…), I love to experiment with pedagogical techniques, and am particularly interested in the effectiveness of comic art and graphic novels for undergraduate teaching. I also serve on the Postdoctoral Council executive committee at Princeton, supporting postdocs through social and professional events and activities.

Before joining the Princeton Writing Program Faculty, I taught and assisted with a number of courses at Boston University (BU) in my roles as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, a Lecturer in the BU Summer Term and a Graduate Writing Fellow  in the BU Writing Program. I hold a Ph.D. in Psychology  (Developmental Science) from BU  (PI: Dr. Amanda Tarullo), an M.A. in Psychology  (Brain, Behavior, and Cognition) from BU, and an Honours B.A. in Cognitive Science from York University (Canada), where I was a York International United World College Scholar for four years. During my undergraduate studies, I took courses at the National University of Singapore on a year-long international exchange program, supported by the York International Mobility Award.