phdast7

First-generation American of Polish extraction, Professor of European History at a small Liberal Arts University where I am the coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program.   I have been teaching history and interdisciplinary studies courses for sixteen years.   I love what I do - reading, writing, research, lecturing, classroom interaction with students, attending conferences, serving on faculty and administrative comittees.

There is a downside to being a college professor:  one, in relationship to the level of education and training you have to have, well, frankly, the  money sucks. But you know that going in, it is certainly not a secret.   Nobody, primary grades through graduate school teaches for the big money.  And two, oh my heavens, the grading never ends!   As soon as you finish one stack of exams, there is another stack of essays or term papers.  Don't even bring up Scantrons;  I don't use them   I want my students to know the course content AND to learn to write well.

I grew up on a variety of Air Force bases - Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Greece, Northern California, North Carolina.   Driving past a base and hearing the roar of jets taking off and landing still makes me homesick and makes me feel safe and secure at the same time.  I have done research at many archives and museums - my favorite location?   The United States Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. 

I like a lot of things, but I love art and film and especially reading.   I prefer prose essays, then novels,and of course poetry.  A few of the authors in my top thirty list:  Oliver Sachs - C. S. Lewis -, David Brooks - Malcolm Gladwell - Thomas Cahill - George E. Will - Martin Cruz Smith - Naomi Wolf - Rachel Maddux - Wanda Ast.   Yes, she is my paternal grandmother -  an artist,  poet, survivor of the Nazi and Soviet regimes, spoke four languages, and was about as intense and eccentric as grandmothers come.  I was very fortunate in my choice of grandparents.   :)

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