by Chloë Moore ’24
This year, with Professor Andrea Kaston Tange on a well-deserved sabbatical, Professor Peter Bognanni has assumed the position of the English Department Chair. I talked to Prof. Bognanni about the role, its impacts on him, and his hopes for the department this year.
How were you chosen to be the acting chair?
I was voted in by my magnanimous colleagues! It has actually been awhile since someone on the Creative Writing track has been chair, so it was very kind of them to give me a chance. Now I have to prove that we creative types are capable of organizing a few things and don’t live all of our days in reveries of pure imagination (That’s only what I do on Wednesdays).
What’s been the most surprising/challenging aspect?
I have never really had to know how every little thing at the college works. In the past, I’ve mostly concentrated on things that would benefit my students and advisees. The rest I kind of shut out. But now I have to have a working knowledge of just about everything. The challenge for me is asking for so much help. I feel like I’m emailing someone from the college for advice about something every day. I keep waiting to get a message back that says “You have reached your monthly allotment of questions. Please leave us alone.”
The most fun aspect?
That’s easy: I get to meet more students. In the before-chair-times, I only knew students who were my advisees or took a class with me. Now I’m getting to know everybody. And we have a lot of brilliant, genuinely-inspiring majors. It’s a pleasure just to talk to them for a couple minutes while they ask me about their study abroad courses. I also get to hire some of our visiting professors, and we have an especially talented bunch at the moment.
How does this impact how you interact with the department—other faculty, your students, etc?
I hope it hasn’t changed things too much. I feel a little more conscious of making sure I’m doing everything people need from me. A colleague who I once just saw as a friend, now becomes someone I can professionally advocate for or support in some tangible way. I just want to make sure I’m doing all I can. Aside from some of those feelings, it all feels much the same. I wander the halls. I make bad jokes. I try to share my passion for stories.
Any specific goals for the department this year?
Our biggest goal is to hire a new professor of Medieval Literature for the department. Applications are just starting to come in and there are some very impressive ones already. I’m confident that we’re going to find someone great who can make this period come alive for the students. I also want to keep trying to restore that feeling of community we lost a little bit during the lockdown. It has been so great to see students gathering for events again.
Why should people consider an English major?
Well, first of all, you get to spend four years reading and writing. We can’t forget that part. If someone told me today that I could spend the next four years immersing myself in great literature and trying to create my own, I would drop whatever else I was doing and follow them. But in a larger sense, I think you’re going to learn to think critically and write beautifully and persuasively, skills that can take you so many places, while engaging with some of the most stunning and groundbreaking art that humans have made. You can learn real skills that might land you a job someday, and you can delight in the power of language. It’s a combination that’s hard to beat! Also, we have free bagels.
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Thank you, Prof. Bognanni, and congratulations on being Chair! Everyone at The Words is excited to be back in person to some extent, and we look forward to the rest of the year!
