Ms. Geetha Basappa

Ms. Geetha Basappa joined UTC as English teacher in April 2011 and has never stopped feeling happy and grateful that she made this decision. Her 3 great joys are the students and staff of the UTC, the Library and Archives, and the beautiful campus.  She has been a teacher for 34 years, ever since she started her career when she was 23 (a very long time ago!), although never before part time, or in a church related institution. She has an MA and a B.Ed, and received the gold medal in her year. She lives with her family, made up of  her husband, who is a peace activist and businessman, her daughter who is studying for her Masters Degree in St Joseph’s College, her parents, and her cat.

Geetha madam or Geetha ma'am as she is fondly called by students handles the English and Study Methods courses for 1 BD during the term, and the course in Language and Writing over the summer for the MTh class. She proofreads any publications of the college when asked. She does not, however, proofread and edit theses!!

She hopes that the English course at UTC will soon be spread over 2 years instead of just 1, and that she will very soon be allowed to set up the UTC Writing Centre to facilitate all programmes and classes on campus. She feels that the opportunity to continue learning how to communicate effectively must be open to everybody on campus, particularly for pastors, since she has always sat on the ‘other’ side of the pulpit, and has felt the effects of several sermons on sleepy Sunday mornings.

Besides teaching English, Ms. Basappa’s other great research interest is Culture Studies (she was for 15 years the Director of the South Asian studies centre for Long Island University), particularly the part that food and customs play in lives around the world. She also loves to garden, and feels strongly that we at UTC should grow and use our own organically grown vegetables, using our own compost from our beautiful campus. This will give us cheap, healthy food as well as exercise and stress release!

Finally, when she has the time, she is trying to define the figure of a personal, Indian Christ in painting. She will inform this blog as soon as she has it!