SAN QUENTIN
As the Dean of Academic Administration at Mount Tamalpais College, Nandita streamlined operations within the challenging environment of San Quentin State Prison. She designed and implemented a transparent, equitable course forecasting model, while also developing a curriculum to mentor incarcerated students on how to design & teach their own programs.
Nandita conceptualized and led the execution of bespoke events, including a research showcase, an international film festival, and a celebration that featured student speakers engaging with College faculty, donors, and guests.
Passionate about enhancing students’ access to technology, Nandita spearheaded the launch of the College’s first blended learning courses on business operations (with faculty from San Francisco State University) and patriarchy (with faculty from Harvard University).
She also initiated a unique forum that facilitated dialogue between College students and prison staff.
SAN FRANCISCO
At University High School, Nandita led the re-envisioning of the Human Development program, transforming it into the Institute for Responsive Education. Under her leadership, the Institute created five specialized centers: Community Engagement, Metacognition & Neurodiversity, Health & Wellness, Climate Studies, and Equity & Community.
She ran a seminar on Oral Histories, that engaged students in documenting narratives from non-teaching staff on the Facilities team, fostering appreciation for diverse experiences within the school community.
Nandita co-directed and led an Equity & Community event for prospective students, crafting mini-immersive experiences that allowed families and students to learn more about the school’s mission and values.
Additionally, she coordinated and led the launch of the school’s first Ethnic Studies course, focusing on Food Justice in the Bay Area. This initiative set up opportunities for students to engage with organizations actively working in this critical area.
NEW MEXICO
While serving as the Associate Director of the Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict (CEC) and the Head of Arts, Nandita spearheaded two pioneering programs.
She established the Prison Education Portals, allowing UWC faculty & students to engage with incarcerated youth through creative dialogue and learning. UWC students were guided to work collaboratively with their peers in a youth detention center in Albuquerque, facilitating generative exercises that fostered cultural exchange. Under Nandita’s leadership, participation in the juvenile justice community engagement program doubled, involving nearly 40% of the student body, with UWC students also serving as Teaching Assistants in courses taught via the Prison Education Portals.
Nandita launched the CEC open access, multilingual journal, providing a platform for global thinkers to share research and reflections about engaging with conflict. The journal aimed to foster cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, enriching both the contributors and the audience with diverse perspectives and themes.
In addition to these initiatives, Nandita taught theatre at UWC-USA, expanding her students' understanding of the form by intentionally introducing them to theorists and practitioners from six continents. She challenged them to question both the spaces used for theatre making and the often accepted lines between audience and actor.
KASHMIR
Beginning in 2011, Nandita engaged in arts-based research in Kashmir, collaborating with various individuals and organizations across stakeholder groups.
From 2013 to 2018, Nandita partnered with the Ensemble Kashmir Theatre Akademi to create Chronicles from Kashmir. This research explored the multifaceted layers of the Kashmir conflict, particularly the intersections of civil society, militants, and government forces. For example: using immersive theatre, the project examined how women experience these conflicts differently than men; interviews with former militants provided narratives that intertwined their personal experiences with those of their families; engagements with members of the Indian Armed Forces illuminated the complexities and shades of grey in Kashmir’s stakeholder dynamics.
The project evolved into a 24-hour immersive performance in 2017, a short film in 2018, and a multimedia open-access publication in 2020. This publication includes a script, filmed scenes, and contextual questions, serving as a valuable resource for educators and practitioners in performance and conflict studies.
DILIJAN
As Head of Performing Arts at UWC Dilijan College, Nandita played a pivotal role in designing Araks, a week-long, arts-centered event that commemorated the centenary of the Armenian genocide. This ambitious project brought together visual artists, scholars, musicians, writers, and performers, creating a multidisciplinary platform to explore complex themes of memory, loss, and resilience. By engaging the entire school and surrounding communities, Araks became a profound expression of cultural remembrance, fostering dialogue and understanding through the arts.
In this inaugural year of UWC Dilijan College, Nandita also contributed to the establishment of a black box theatre at the college, providing a dedicated space for creative experimentation and performance. However, recognizing the potential of varied environments for theatrical expression, she simultaneously encouraged students to engage with questions of space. Rather than limiting performances to conventional settings like black box theaters or auditoriums, she invited her students to stage their works in diverse and unconventional sites. This approach not only broadened the scope of artistic exploration but also deepened the audience's connection to the themes presented, allowing for a more immersive experience.
PAUD
At UWC Mahindra College, Nandita worked to deepen connections among students, faculty, and non-teaching staff through an innovative Night School program. Understanding the importance of addressing actual community needs rather than making assumptions, she implemented a months-long process that included training 16- to 19-year-old students in conducting needs assessments. This approach ensured that the program genuinely reflected the desires of the young dining hall workers from rural India: improving their skills in conversational English and computer literacy, expanding their possibilities for future employment.
In addition to the Night School, Nandita spearheaded a variety of initiatives as the Head of Experiential Education. One key component was the introduction of focus days, held once a month, to equip students — who were from over 80 countries — with the cultural & ethical frameworks they needed to consider for meaningful community interaction. A believer in the potential of immersive educational experiences, Nandita co-designed and led project weeks that invited students to engage with queer rights activism in Bengaluru and artists working toward social justice in Ahmedabad.
Nandita also expanded the College’s annual Theatre Season, growing it from a single week of student-led performances in traditional theatre spaces, into a month-long festival featuring 12-15 productions that involved students, faculty, non-teaching staff, and local community members and saw performances occurring in/on houses, courtyards, staircases, and forests. Nandita worked hard to foster connections between UWC Mahindra College and artist groups in myriad contexts, facilitating on-campus visits by The Company Theatre (Kenya) and the Ensemble Kashmir Theatre Akademi (Kashmir).
MEXICO
Nandita conducted a series of community-based theatre workshops across Puebla, Chiconcuac, and various host locations in Mexico City, emphasizing participatory and collaborative learning. These workshops were intergenerational, welcoming participants of all ages and skill levels. By allowing community members to choose the topics for their plays, Nandita fostered a sense of ownership and relevance in their creative processes, guiding them on the formal aspects of theatre-making while ensuring that their voices and stories remained at the forefront.
In addition to these workshops, Nandita engaged in a series of performance experiments with collaborating artists from Mexico and Brazil. These interventions took place in various public spaces—subway stations, taxis, streets, community centers, and homes—always designed to be interactive and multisensory. The performances sought to challenge existing hierarchies and norms surrounding traditional audience-actor relationships, inviting viewers to become active participants in the experience. By blurring the lines between performer and spectator, Nandita aimed to democratize the art of theatre, making it accessible and relevant to the everyday lives of the community members.
DIMAPUR
Nandita co-created site-responsive performances with Dreamz Unlimited, an artistic collaborative in Nagaland, aiming to introduce young artists to experimental theatre-making techniques. The project featured site-adaptive, promenade theatre, where audiences moved through various rooms of a building, challenging traditional notions of what theatre can be. The ensemble worked on adapting Griselda Gambaro's text, Information for Foreigners, which provided a rich context for exploring complex themes relevant to Nagaland.
During her subsequent visit, Nandita facilitated the development of Dreamz Unlimited’s new piece designed for a theatre festival in the neighboring state of Manipur. This collaborative and participatory process once again embraced innovative storytelling techniques, including split scenes that examined the tensions between a deep respect for tradition and a desire to break away from it.
AHMEDABAD
As the CAS Coordinator at Mahatma Gandhi International School (MGIS), after conducting an inclusive needs assessment with input from local stakeholders, Nandita launched an initiative to open the campus every Saturday. Children from the village visited the classrooms, eager to learn conversational English, computer literacy, and the arts.
Nandita also conceptualized a unique project week that brought together students from MGIS with their peers at Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa. During this immersive week in Kenya, students worked together on dramatization of the historical links between India and Kenya.
KIGALI
Nandita designed a year-long theatre training program and traveling festival for Never Again Rwanda, an NGO dedicated to working with Rwandan youth on issues of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The program aimed to build facilitation skills among participants while generating meaningful debates about ongoing questions in post-genocide Rwanda, particularly concerning inter-community relationships and marriages.
Through monthly workshops that incorporated techniques from Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed—such as Image and Forum Theatre—youth participants were empowered to create their own content and lead discussions. The traveling festival visited Kigali, Butare, and Gisenyi, where the youth's performances sparked heated debates among audience members.