Pediatrics World Conference 2026

Biography

Kalpana Mukunda Iyengar earned her PhD in literacy at the University of Texas - San Antonio. She was later awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in the Bicultural Bilingual Studies Department. She holds a master’s in Linguistics and Commonwealth Literature from Bangalore University and a second masters from Kutztown University, Pennsylvania. Dr. Iyengar received a B.Sc. from Arakalagudu Varadarajulu Kanthamma College for Women, Hassan. Dr. Iyengar’s research foci include cultural preservation, literacy, teacher preparation, Indic cultures, and multicultural education. She co-edited a volume with Cognella Publishers, book chapters in IGI Publications, and articles in peer-reviewed journals including Educational Studies, South Asian Review, Devsanskrithi Interdisciplinary (DSVV), Journal, and English in Texas. Dr. Iyengar was awarded the San Antonio Writing Project Summer (SAWP) Institute Fellowship, 2007. She subsequently became a teacher-consultant and co-director for the SAWP.  Continuing her research interest, she co-founded/co-directed the DSVV Haridwar Writing Project in India. In recognition of her literacy work, she was awarded the National Council of Teachers of English Distinguished Early College Educator of Color Award. Dr. Iyengar’s co-edited volume (with Dr. Smith), Diversity in Society and Schools, was published by Cognella Press, 2021. A co-edited volume on biliteracy development, was published by Kendall Hunt, 2024. A co-edited book on Teaching English Writing in the Diaspora: Scaffolding Educators and Students was published in 2023. Her latest book published by Cambridge Scholars (2026) was on Sciences, Humanities, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (SHTEM) Education: Voices and Perspectives of Women and Girls from Minoritized Communities. 

Her current projects include, (1) a co-edited volume on Qualitative Approaches to Literacy Research Within Marginalized Communities will be published by Cambridge Scholars in 2026, (2) a special edition of the Journal of Literacy Innovation on Multicultural Children's Literature (MCCL): Female-centric Representations in Science, Humanities, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (SHTEM) has a publication date of 2027. Dr. Iyengar offers teacher preparation and literacy courses at UTSA. She was lead faculty for the Family Literacy Project sponsored by the Center for Inquiry of Transformative Literacies. Dr. Iyengar was a Scholar-in-Residence at DSVV and she is a visiting professor in the English department. Drs. Iyengar and Smith, as guest faculty, offered a three-week graduate course on Qualitative Methods at Presidency College, Bengaluru, India.