Akash Shetye is a PhD student with an interest in non-linear storytelling. He researches how narratives construct time in ways that resolve, contribute to, and create personal, social, and political problems.

His M.A. thesis, “To Cut Across Time” looked at a variation of the cinematic device called crosscutting, studying how it is used increasingly in contemporary cinema to represent events not happening at the same time, which departs from its conventional use to depict simultaneous events. Examining the works of Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Jordan Peele, Denis Villeneuve, DW Griffith, and Sergei Eisenstein among others, this thesis explored how non-simultaneous crosscutting repurposes the device of crosscutting. It demonstrated that this distinct version of crosscutting composes different narrative relationships than the simultaneous version and births new approaches to seeing time in cinema.

When not working on his main research interests, he loves talking about The Sopranos, reading Plato and Aristotle, going on long walks, looking up the latest cricket scores, and stressing about whether Ohio State Football will beat Michigan.