As a way of learning a little more about faculty and staff members associated and/or connected to Rutgers and our program in Comparative Literature, we have created a “spotlight series” where we interview one of these members, and highlight some of their educational background and personal accomplishments through a post.

Last March, we welcomed Fatimah Lakisha Fischer, the new Comparative Literature Program Coordinator. In addition to earning a BA in Communication with a minor in Journalism, and her Masters in Organizational Change in Business Management, from College of Saint Elizabeth (CSE), Fatimah’s work has been enriched by her BA’s concentration choice in Technology and Advertising. Through her major and concentration, she learned how to use different types of editing software, such as News editing software and other editing techniques used in advertisement and journalism.

Before coming to Rutgers, Fatimah worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Educational Opportunity Fund Program (EOF) at College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown. During her 13 year tenure in EOF, Fatimah worked as a building marshal, played a key role in the mission and values committee for the college, assisted in their budget committee, and also used her journalist skills to work as one of the editors, reporter, and writer for the college newspaperThe Station,” where she wrote a minimum of three articles a month. While doing all of this, Fatimah also hosted and produced her own talk show, “Table Talk with Tina,” where she invited different guests to talk about current events in the world of music and entertainment for about 30 minutes. This show was transmitted from 2005 until 2008, as a public access show through Cablevision.

Her passion for news reporting goes hand in hand with her passion for music, which have led Fatimah to not only work as a staff reporter for the sports publication “Eagle’s Nest,” and write her own entertainment news blog, but also work as an intern for the WBGO Jazz radio station, where she continues to volunteer to this day.

Fatimah’s love for music and beautiful voice did not only encouraged her to pursue and earn a certification as a recording engineer, as well as obtaining a (currently valid!) FCC RP/DJ’s license, but also earned her a place as the singer for the US national anthem at the Newark Bears stadium, and for the Somerset patriots at TD bank ballpark in 2013. Thankful for these opportunities, she says that her dream as a singer is to someday sing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden, for which she will use her experiences of working as the choir director at her local church for 15 years.

Now at Rutgers she says, “I feel excited experiencing so much diversity among the student body and faculty in Comparative Literature and across the university”. She adds, “I love working with students from different cultural backgrounds. [to give a small example] The other day I was so curious to see that they use military time on their phones.” Fatimah sees many opportunities to continue to grow and learn at Rutgers. She plans to obtain her Doctorate in Education (EdD) at Rutgers in a near future, for she desires to “never stop learning.”  Fatimah looks forward to having a “long extended career at Rutgers”, and to further her education, for as she acknowledges “there is empowerment throgh education!” Fatimah, Welcome to our Comp. Lit. team!