Nityanand Deckha
Presently, I am in my second transition since graduate work at Rice. For about two years, I worked in advertising and marketing in New York and Toronto. Only over the last year have I decided to direct my interest through two linked activities: writing and teaching. I juggle part-time teaching in Continuing Studies, University of Toronto, freelance journalism and my own fiction writing. The latter includes a collection of short stories grouped around the theme of food and research for a novel about sibling rivalry.
About Rice Anthropology
Although I didn't know it then, Rice's unique program in cultural anthropology trained me to be an innovative thinker, to take intellectual risks across conventional boundaries of inquiry, and to be the 'generalist' that I am becoming more and more. Its flexible learning environment and the close faculty attention made it a 'finishing school' of sorts, not only in a sense of becoming apprised of past and ongoing academic debates, but learning personalized modes of being an effective intellectual observer and commentator. Most of all, Rice allowed me to develop my curiosity, my skills in observation, and a passion to explore new terrain.
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