Christia Williams Joins College of Education Faculty

VALDOSTA — When Christia T. Williams graduated from Valdosta State University with a bachelor’s degree in American sign language/interpreting in August 2003, she immediately accepted a position as coordinator of the campus’ Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. She went on to serve the university as an instructor in Continuing Education, a mentor interpreter, and a consultant and co-teacher.

Today, nine years later, the 35-year-old Nicholls native is an instructor in the James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education’s Department of Middle, Secondary, Reading, and Deaf Education.

Williams said, “I believe VSU exhibits the perfect blend of small-school feel — connection to students and emphasis on teaching and learning — with the larger-school emphasis on scholarly activity and research that allows me to be involved in the growth of my discipline.”

During the fall semester, Williams is teaching ASLS 3190: Fingerspelling, Numbers, and Classifiers, INTP 4020: Consecutive Interpreting from ASL to English, and INTP 4040: Practicum for Educational Interpreters. Her chosen areas of professional research include student perceptions of peer assessment and feedback, assimilation and acceptance of feedback, and best practices in interpreter pedagogy.

Williams earned a Master of Education in interpreter pedagogy from Northeastern University in September 2011. She has over a decade of interpreting experience as a certified interpreter. She is a member of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers, Southeast Interpreter Support Group, Georgia Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, and National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. She served as a member of the VSU Department of Middle, Secondary, Reading, and Deaf Education Advisory Board from September 2007 to May 2010. 

Williams and her husband of 15 years, Jeremy, have a son, Zachary, 8. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, reading, crocheting, and watching television and science fiction/fantasy movies. She noted that her first name is pronounced “chris-cha.”

Contact Christia T. Williams at (229) 249-4957 or ctwillia@valdosta.edu to learn more. Her office is located in the James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education, Room 1113.