Meet Our Faculty: Aarti Nakra

Aarti Nakra

 

Instructor

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

History, Anthropology and Political Science

 

What she teaches:

American Civilization, World History to 1500, World History since 1500 and Americanization

 

Number of years teaching at SLCC:

Eight

 

Undergraduate degree:

Fergusson College, India

 

Master’s:

Two: University of Utah and University of Pune, India.  

 

Why working at SLCC matters:

Twenty years ago, I came to the U.S as an international student to complete my master’s degree at University of Utah. I encountered many cultural and academic challenges. But I had great teachers and mentors who guided me along my educational journey. Working at SLCC is my way of giving back to the community by helping students succeed in their academic journeys.

 

Greatest professional challenge:

I think my greatest challenge would be to see what works and what doesn’t work in my classrooms. For example, I do lot of discussions in my classes and sometimes students do not participate or there are just one or two students participating. For my writing assignments as well, sometimes students do not attempt those assignments at all or submit them late. This is very disheartening, but I go back and re-evaluate my courses to see why some things do not work, what can I do to help students without lowering my expectations for my course or my students. I take student feedback and evaluations very seriously and try to incorporate their concerns and make necessary changes if I can.

Greatest professional accomplishment:

As an educator I feel my greatest accomplishment is to see my students successfully complete their academic pursuits. Sometimes I hear back from students who I have taught in the past and they tell me how my course has helped them in their careers, and that means a lot to me. Each semester I see a few students who are struggling academically, but when these students successfully complete my course with sheer hard work and commitment, that’s a great professional accomplishment for me.

 

Advice for students or others:

Work hard, don’t let go of your academic goals. Do not be afraid of academic challenges. Always keep moving forward.

 

Future plans:

I want to continue teaching and learning. I want to collaborate with other faculty members and staff to encourage global learning and service learning across the college.

 

Family:

My husband and our nine-year-old son.

 

Hobbies:

I love to read whenever I get a chance. I mostly love historical fiction and mythology books. I am also a huge Harry Potter fan, books as well films. I do lot of meditation and yoga. Hiking and camping with my family in the great Utah outdoors are some of my other hobbies.