Now an assistant teaching professor at URI, Nahoko Collis was once a study abroad student from Japan. Photo courtesy of: Nahoko Collis
Nahoko Collis, originally from Japan, studied abroad in the United States in order to learn and travel, however, many decisions led her to create a life here in Rhode Island instead.
Collis works at University of Rhode Island as an assistant teaching professor of Japanese language and culture. In 2024, Collis will be working at URI full-time in the same subjects.
“I first came in 2006 as a transfer student, and I completed my undergrad at Amherst College,” Collis said. “Even then, I was working as a student tutor in the Japanese department.”
According to her, she has always enjoyed teaching the Japanese language to others and it has been something that comes naturally to her.
Collis earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, in 2006 and earned another bachelor’s from Amherst College in anthropology in 2008 as a Doshisha Neeshima Scholar, which is a student selected in Doshisha University every other year with a full ride scholarship to complete a B.A. in two years at Amherst College.
“After that, I didn’t really see myself in the United States, you know, being able to live and work here,” Collis said. “So I went back to Japan.”
Collis decided to settle in Tokyo, Japan and was able to utilize her background in journalism to work for an independent public relations firm. However, after working there for three years, on March 11, 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck the eastern part of Japan.
Although Tokyo did not receive the brunt of the earthquake and tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear disaster also occurred on the same date as these natural disasters. These disasters left Japan in economic and environmental calamity.
After these events, Collis began to think about what career she truly wanted to pursue, and it led back to teaching the Japanese language. Additionally, she was able to reconnect with her now husband, who she met at Amherst College.
“My husband worked in Providence, Rhode Island, and I didn’t know anything about Rhode Island, but I just had to give it a try,” Collis said.
While in Rhode Island, Collis worked at Brown University as a teaching associate in the Japanese department for only one semester, and according to her, that is when she fell in love with teaching. Thus, she decided to pursue her master’s degree in Japanese linguistics and pedagogy at Columbia University in New York, which she earned in 2015.
While attending Columbia, she sought part-time employment as an instructor in Japanese language and culture and worked in elementary schools, charter schools and Bridgewater State University.
From 2015 until 2016, Collis worked as a part-time faculty member at URI for the Japanese.
In 2018, Collis was hired again by Brown University as a visiting lecturer, and she remained there for two years. During the time period between attaining her master’s and working again for Brown, Collis had two sons.
Then, in 2019, URI created the Global Language and Area Studies program (G.L.A.S.). Collis heard of this program through other colleagues and said she became interested in it immediately.
“I believe there is only one high school that offers the Japanese language in Rhode Island, so you know this department is a small world,” Collis said. “So I heard about what URI was doing, and I wanted to be a part of building that program.”
Not only was the program dear to her, but during her brief time teaching at URI in 2015, she felt as though the community here was also driving her decision.
“The reason I’m here is the students, and yes, I teach, but I always learn from them and talk to them,” Collis said. “The colleagues I have here are also great, and most of them have families as well, so I feel understood.”
Thomas Fargnoli, a third-year student studying Global Language and Area Studies (G.L.A.S.), with a concentration in Japanese and computer science, is currently taking JPN 301: Pre-Advanced Japanese I with Professor Collis.
“Professor Collis is one of the few professors I have had that has made me feel like she genuinely cares about the progression of her students,” Fargnoli said. “She encourages all of us to try speaking and practicing Japanese in class and supports us on our journey of learning the language. She consistently assists us in learning both in and out of class.”
Fargnoli further explains Collis’ support when she advised him to attend department events to practice conversational speaking, which would help Fargnoli in his oral exams in his Japanese courses.
“I believe Professor Collis is an example of a great professor at URI,” Fargnoli said. “She puts in as much time as her students and creates environments that allow for those who are putting in the effort to thrive. She is one of the reasons I have stayed in the program, and I definitely feel like the Japanese program at URI would be lesser without her.”
As of right now, Collis is drawn to languages every day and is hoping to take some courses offered at URI to learn other languages such as Chinese, Italian and anything else she possibly can.
Collis and her husband both have careers in Rhode Island that will allow them to stay here for the foreseeable future.
“We just love Rhode Island too much, and we have no reason to leave,” she said.