Nishi Shah-Williams

Dear students,

I hope to see you in one of my classes. If you do take a class from me, I will get to know you a little bit and you will get to know me as well. Although I consider myself to be very strict, I do try to make the classes as enjoyable as possible with some lecture, more discussion and mostly group work. I believe that true learning occurs through collaboration with others. My goal is that through these teaching strategies, you will come to appreciate literature and writing more.

Here is a little bit of background information on me…

I have been teaching here at Cerritos College since the fall 2004 semester but have been teaching in general at various colleges since 1998 when I graduated from Cal State Fullerton with my Master's degree in English with an emphasis in 19th and 20th century American Novel.
As an undergraduate at Cal State Fullerton, I minored in Speech Communication while I majored in English. It was my minor in Speech Communication that led me to do research on grunge music and its influence on the American society. As a result, I presented papers on the influence of grunge music, focusing primarily on such bands as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, at Popular Culture conferences in Las Vegas and Savannah, Georgia. I also have a book of poetry titled Monsoons During a Drought which was published in 1996.

Most of my hobbies and interests revolve around being physically active. I work out a lot and enjoy doing anything outdoors such as playing co-ed softball, frisbee golf, volleyball, and basketball. I also enjoy swimming and hiking. In addition, I practiced martial arts for about seven years at several different schools learning a combination of Ed Parker's American Kenpo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, etc. In May 2004, I was awarded my black belt at Pakua Martial Arts.

Feel free to visit my website at www.cerritos.edu/nwilliams to learn more about the courses I am currently teaching.

Inspired Writing:

The following is a quote I like because the narrator in this novel is forced to look at himself and come to a strong realization about who he is:

“I wanted freedom, not destruction. It was exhausting, for no matter what the scheme I conceived, there was one constant flaw—myself. There was no getting around it. I could no more escape than I could think of my identity. Perhaps, I thought, the two things are involved with each other. When I discover who I am, I’ll be free” (243).

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Vintage, 1980.

Click on the book to read more about it at www.barnesandnoble.com!