British Professor Mark Whalan comes stateside

Stephanie Damon-Moore Assistant Life Editor

Throughout history, England has had much to offer the rest of the world in the way of icons, from Charles Dickens to Judi Dench. This year, Vassar College is benefitting from another great British export: Visiting English Professor Mark Whalan.

Whalan is a Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Culture at the University of Exeter and is the author of Race, Manhood, and Modernism in America: The Short Story Cycles of Jean Toomer and Sherwood Anderson, a book that focuses on the work of the poet of the Harlem Rennaisance Jean Toomer. Whalan has also edited The Letters of Jean Toomer, 1919-1924, and has written many academic articles. This week Whalan sat down with The Miscellany News to discuss his path to Vassar, educational differences and the experience of teaching abroad.

The Miscellany News: What brings you to America?

Mark Whalan: I’m an American Studies scholar, so I’ve done a lot of research here before. Also, I’m in charge of the student exchange program for English students at home, and we’ve been sending students to American colleges, including Vassar, for many years. Two years ago, the chair of the English Department suggested we set up a faculty exchange...I thought that was great idea, so we set it up. I’m the first person to come on the exchange from Exeter.

MN: Why are you at Vassar?

MW: It was a very good place for me in a number of ways. Vassar was the only school that suggested the exchange for faculty, but also it’s very close to great research resources in New Haven and New York, and it’s an area that I knew fairly well from my travels beforehand. Also, Vassar has an international reputation, so coming to work here and being able to teach here and work with these colleagues was a fantastic opportunity. I was really happy.

MN: Is England’s education system very different from America’s?

MW: It’s very different. The main differences would be that it’s much less multidisciplinary, so the students would tend to take just one subject for their entire degree. Students in England probably have less work to do, as well. I think they just did a survey recently that showed that English students do less than any other students in Europe per week, and I think when our students come here one of the main issues is the workload; they find the increase in work quite a surprise.

MN: Do you think that a multidisciplinary system is more beneficial to students, or would students be better off specializing in one subject for their entire education?

MW: It comes down to what you want your education to do. Obviously, for producing good graduate students and for producing students who are going to work in specialized fields, that kind of single discipline focus is very good. But for producing a kind of enlightened citizen, that multidisciplinary model is probably better. And it’s good for keeping students’ options open. So I like it. I would say, as a kind of transatlantic scholar, it’s best to have both. It’s nice that students can do exchanges, and have an experience with both of those two things, because they both have definite strengths.

MN: Are you having a good time here?

MW: I’m having a wonderful time here. The students here are wonderful, they tend to speak a little more than British students; they’re less shy. And they’re very hardworking, very enthused. For someone who teaches African American literature a lot, teaching that here is very different here than in Britain.

MN: A lot of Vassar students do international programs—do you have advice for students traveling to other countries?

MW: Ask questions. The things that will surprise you are the things that you think will be the same in every country. The other thing is to be adventurous. Take risks, whether that’s intellectually, or going to places you might not normally think of. It’s all about being out of your comfort zone, and there are very few times in most people’s lives where they’ll have that kind of opportunity.