Faculty
After
receiving her Ph.D. in American Literature, Ratna returned to India and
accepted
a tenured position teaching literature at the State College in Bhubaneswar,
Orissa, India. Unsatisfied with the challenges there, she returned to
the
US, and took a position running the English Lab at a Seattle Community
College. The Lab offered her many opportunities for insight into learning
and especially cross
cultural learning. Two years after her return from
field research in India
in 1988 (see Scholar) Ratna was
encouraged
to
apply for a position, referred to at most universities as a Generalist,
at
The Evergreen State College. Evergreen's inter-disciplinary approach
to teaching had great appeal for her, and it has provided Ratna many more
opportunities to enrich
her teaching
style. While continuing her fulltime involvement with team-taught
courses, Ratna spent extra time developing an accredited three
year curriculum in Orissi dance, the only one of its kind in America.
This acomplishment was recognized publicly by the Indian Ambassador to the
US in Washington D.C. in August of 2003.
