Meet Professor Shoilee Khan (Communication and Literary Studies)
Photo: Shoilee Khan
Shoilee Khan received her MA in English Literature from the University of Toronto and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. She began teaching at Sheridan in 2010 and currently teaches a variety of courses with the School of Communication and Literary Studies. She loves that teaching allows her to not only share her love of literature, but also to demonstrate how stories can create movements of change in our individual lives. Her most rewarding lessons are those that create a foundation for students to interact with a piece of literature and experience moments of discovery and realization that are surprising and revelatory for both students and professors.
Shoilee is also a writer of fiction and creative-nonfiction and most recently was a participant in the 2015 Banff Writing Studio where she worked on re-writing her current project, a novel that takes place in post-liberation Bangladesh. Connecting with other writers and sharing the ups and downs of the writing life has proven to be both invigorating and self-affirming and she hopes to continue work on this project this summer and fall. You can find Shoilee’s previous work in magazines and journals, including Adbusters, Room Magazine, The New Quarterly, and Other Voices.
Shoilee recently began the Couchto5K journey, which seeks to transform couch potatoes into avid runners. She’s midway through her challenge and will enthusiastically accept tips from joggers and runners willing to offer wisdom! She looks forward to bringing her experience in literature, creative writing, (and potato transformation!) to the classroom and hopes to help her students use reading and writing as tools for meaningful analysis and engagement in academia and beyond.
Shoilee Khan answers Alchemy’s Proust Questionnaire:
Favourite virtue: Kindness.
Most important lesson I’ve learned this year: Fear = Thinking + Time.
My favourite qualities in a student: Curiosity and gusto.
My favourite qualities in a teacher: Patience, empathy, and little pocketfuls of wisdom.
My idea of perfect happiness: Grass, sky, book, and a cheese sandwich.
In my opinion the secret to success is: Quiet, focused, informed perseverance.
My favourite word: Volition.
My least favourite word: The expression “It could be worse.”
My favourite quotation, motto, or phrase: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
The talent or skill I wish I had: Mathematical prowess.
On my bucket list: Bathe an elephant.
My favourite food/meal and drink: Traditional Bengali fried bread (paratha) with slow-cooked turmeric potatoes.
My guilty TV/film/gaming pleasure: Say Yes to the Dress.
