Matt graduated in 2007 with a concentration in Modern Europe. He lives in Media, PA and works as a Lecturer in Delaware County Community College’s History Department and as an Adjunct Professor in Temple University’s Intellectual Heritage Department. He can be contacted by email.
What are some exciting things happening in your life?
Watching (and writing/researching about) entirely too many European Westerns & teaching undergraduates.
What are your favorite or recommended history books?
The answer to this question changes almost yearly. Three things I really liked/have been using recently are Tony Shaw & Denise Youngblood’s Cinematic Cold War, Austin Fisher’s Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western, and Paulina Bren’s The Greengrocer and his TV (really good).
Why did you choose to attend graduate school?
I really had not a clue what one would do with a BA in History with minors in Russian and Philosophy. Grad school seemed like the only natural next step. I was also lucky to have a handful of really great professors (two of whom were Villanova MA in history alums) who pretty much put me through my paces so to speak. Kind of filled me in on what to expect at the next level (both good and bad) & served as a great mentors through the process.
Before attending Villanova, what did you have in mind, career-wise, after completing graduate school? Did you pursue this? If not, what changed your mind?
Academia or education of some kind. In that case, I guess I achieved some of those goals. PhD programs have been pushed back for the time being due to a variety of reasons, ranging from immediate post-MA program poverty to the uncertainties surrounding higher education in the aftermath of the current crisis of mature capitalism. There was a period that I was thinking about teaching high school, but the current trend towards ‘standardization’ quickly dampened that thought. Really didn’t see myself teaching young people how to ‘take a test’ and become better consumers/bureaucrats.
Can you please provide us with a short description of your job?
Pretty much a ‘full time’ teaching academic. The courses are essentially a ‘general’ intro to the Humanities for undergraduates. Normally, I teach two sections every fall/spring semester & usually one summer section. I also have a more stable position over at DCCC in their history department. Three courses guaranteed every semester. Two Global sections and one upper-level special topics class (Modern Europe, WWI, Modern Russia, etc.).
How did you get involved with your current job/career?
A mixture of desperation & luck. After grad school, I literally had no money. Reduced to waiting to do laundry only when I ran out of clean pairs of drawers and drinking really cheap bottles of bad red wine (Seriously, stuff like Paisano. Not really ‘bum wine’ but disturbingly close). So, I simply shot gunned my CV out to every history/humanities department in the area and at the end of July got a call requesting an interview over at Temple. As for community college, I was lucky in that one of my old undergraduate mentors teaches in the department. When they wanted to fill this particular position, he stepped up to the plate for me.
What do you enjoy about your job?
First and foremost, providing my undergraduates with ‘tool kit’ to make sense of the world around them. Because of their high school experiences, their idea about ‘history’ is pretty messed-up. However, after about a month or so of course material you start seeing these wonderful moments when the students start making connections not only in the various texts, but with the wider world around them. This occurs in the classroom, in their writing, etc. The ones that ‘get it’ really take a lot out of the material. They just keep wanting more. Hell, over at community college I have a little set of ‘groupies’ that seem to be minoring in ‘Kowalski.’ Some of those students are now doing great things over at places like Penn, Temple, even Yale. It’s great. Kind of like porn for eggheads. I know it sounds a bit corny, but really keeps one going. You also learn a lot from the students themselves. One of the great things about what I do is that you literally are constantly updating your approach. New materials. New themes. New projects.
However, there are certain disadvantages. The pay sucks. Luckily, DCCC is a union shop. I get benefits, but they’re pretty minimal. Commuting creates conflicts. Not being a tenured professor, I don’t have much time to dedicate to my own research. I can’t pawn my class time/office hours off to slave labor -- I mean graduate students. I get to conferences when I can, but location & timing make it tough. You occasionally sit through faculty/division meetings thinking things like…”Why I am I here? What is my name? What is the meaning of life? Why does this one bloody sociologist seem to think animal rights take precedence over human rights?”
Probably the most disheartening aspect of the work, however, is the current situation in regards to the Liberal Arts and Sciences more generally. With the continuing commodification of higher education and austerity measures the order of the day, we are literally under siege. Resources are allotted to business schools, engineering departments, and other ‘prestige’ programs. We are left with the crumbs. Administrations are given to re-writing entire curricula to reflect these changes. Over at Temple, they are even taking the once mandatory academic writing courses away from the Department of English and funneling the business/engineering people into special ‘department’ only courses. It’s really making a total mockery of the whole ‘Liberal Arts’ education model.
How have the knowledge and skills you developed as a grad student helped you in your current career?
I want to go back to this idea of a ‘tool kit.’ They really do a wonderful job of filling it, so to speak, at Villanova. If it wasn’t for my 2+ years over there, I wouldn’t be nearly as prepared for my line of work. You know, their program really is the absolute closest thing you can get to a PhD program. The faculty over there introduced me to the latest literature & debates in the field. Entirely new ways of thinking really. Ways of thinking that I incorporate into my work every year. Sometimes things that we read or that someone said in a graduate seminar that at the time seemed not particularly important, but years later bleed into either my teaching or research. You know I have to say, I really could have taken more advantage of it all at the time. I regret that. Still, the most informative two years of my life. I am forever grateful.
Do you have any advice for students who are struggling with the idea of seeking a Ph.D. or are nervous about the job prospects with a M.A. in History?
First of all, take advantage of the resources at hand. Make a point to get to know your professors & colleagues. Pick their brains. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or honest critique, even if the answers are painful/upsetting. If you can reach out those who came before you, do so. If a PhD program is what you are looking at, do your homework. Look at programs. Who is teaching what? What are their research interests? Do I see myself studying and being ‘relatively happy ’tied to this person or institution? Also, really ask yourself ‘What is best in life?’(“To crush your enemies,” etc.) I think a lot of people fall in love with the ‘idea’ of the PhD, but are usually totally unprepared for the reality. Don’t fall into the trap that there is one linear path after this place. Things are difficult at the moment for everyone, but good paying and life rewarding jobs outside of academia do exist.
Do you have any other wisdom to pass on to our graduate students?
I am probably going to sound like a broken record here after what I just said; however, simply take the most out of your experience here. Don’t just come to class and do the readings. Make a point to attend symposiums and other events. Talk to your professors. Really get to know them. Get involved in the ‘community’ of the department. Don’t fear collaboration. Indeed, the most helpful & productive exercises during my time at Villanova were amongst colleagues in the back of smoky bars on the Main Line. Write and research about topics that will open up your horizons. Stuff that you can build upon. Don’t always play it safe. Letter grades aren’t the be all and end all. In a sense this a ‘freest’ time of your lives. You are in bizarre universe where you get to read really important things & discuss/make sense of them.
Finally, really make a point to ‘liberate’ as much free food and hooch that the institution makes available to you. Those opportunities end once you leave this place.
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