Undergraduate Admission
Emerson College
Undergraduate Faculty: Amit Bajaj
http://admission.emerson.edu/admission/undergraduate/faculty/Amit-Bajaj.cfm
Amit Bajaj

Amit Bajaj

Like many students who find their way to speech-language pathology, first-hand experience drew Amit Bajaj to the field. As a child growing up in India, he worked hard to overcome a speech impairment. It was in coping with his stuttering that he found his calling.

After completing his undergraduate studies and two master's degrees (in linguistics and clinical psychology) in India, Professor Bajaj came to the United States in 1993 and earned a Ph.D. from Wichita State University. Equally enthralled with the clinical "art" and research "science" in communication disorders, he chose a career in higher education. After working as a speech-language pathologist and teaching at a university in Kentucky, he made his way to Boston. At Emerson, he discovered a Communication Sciences & Disorders program with a true sense of balance.

"The culture at Emerson is very student-oriented," he says. "Faculty in research-centric universities often have priorities that don't allow them to put undergraduates first. At Emerson, I am able to delve into my research while teaching in an intimate, collegial atmosphere."

Professor Bajaj teaches two undergraduate courses: Phonetics ("How do you understand and transcribe speech sounds?") and Speech Science and Instrumentation ("How do you understand speech from articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual perspectives?"). These courses prepare students to absorb content at a more advanced, graduate level.

Professor Bajaj's research examines stuttering, particularly in children, and asks questions like "How does language interact with stuttering?" He conducts part of his research on the Emerson campus in the department's facilities.

"Speech pathology is a very people-oriented field. It's a nice mix of language, psychology, and science," he says. "We have a small, highly regarded program that allows us to give our students considerable individual attention. In addition, students have access to our many in-house clinical programs and the Greater Boston community for observation and fieldwork. Emerson is a great place for undergraduates to learn the field."

Amit Bajaj's Links