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"Successful CNR students over the years seem to
have had faith in their
abilities and a willingness to confront their weaknesses. They have
taken advantage of the full attention of the faculty and recognized New
York City and study abroad as some of the College’s best resources.
They have been curious about the human condition and their
relationships to it."
Dr. Nick Smart
Associate Professor of English
School of Arts & Sciences
The College of New Rochelle
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Dr. Smart, what is your
educational background?
I went to public school in
Montana, Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and New York
University. My doctorate is in English and American Literature from NYU.
How long have you been teaching at The College of New Rochelle?
I’ve been teaching at the College since 1993. I started
out as an adjunct instructor of composition while I was writing my
dissertation.
What do you teach at CNR?
In the Department of English
I teach British Literature from 1800-present, with a special emphasis
on women writers and on Modernism. Literary theory and fiction writing
are also among my favorite subjects to explore with students. I
also teach the First-Year Experience (Women, College and Society),
Women’s Studies, and Honors.
Besides teaching, how are you involved in the College Community?
I am chairperson of the Department of English, which
means helping coordinate the department’s course offerings and
activities. The Women’s Studies Committee oversees the program’s
curriculum and plans special events, like film festivals, guest
speakers and the Celebration of Student Achievement, which showcases
the work of The College of New Rochelle students who have been
specially commended by their professors. As a member of the Honors
Committee, I take part in the approval of Honors contract work
(intensified faculty-student collaboration) and the granting of Honors
diplomas. Last but not least, I am a friend of the WILDE women (Women
in
Lasting Defense of the Environment), a great club on campus which lets
me host their Earth Day celebration, a game show that raises
environmental consciousness.
On Thursday, April 20,
2006, the fourth annual “Earth Day Game Show”
was hosted
by Associate Professor of English of the School of Arts & Sciences,
Dr. Nick Smart (r.) Contestants were quizzed (and won prizes!) for
their “earth
knowledge.” A full house of students, faculty, and staff filled Romita
Auditorium.
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CNR students are real
people, not
easily categorized by popular modes and archetypes. Whether I am
listening to a presentation on what kind of nutrients Zebra Mollusks
like best, rooting for the softball team to beat Sarah Lawrence, or
arguing in class over whether Wordsworth or Keats is the greater poet,
I am in the motivating company of genuine, striving spirits.
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What sort of
student is successful at CNR?
Worldly students and homespun
students. Loud students and quiet students. It’s hard to predict. CNR
is very much what a student makes of it.
Successful CNR students over the years seem to have had
faith in
their abilities and a willingness to confront their weaknesses. They
have taken advantage of the full attention of the faculty and
recognized New York City and study abroad as some of the College’s best
resources. They have been curious about the human condition and their
relationships to it.
What do you think makes
CNR a special College?
The students.
Every day at CNR sees the birth of great ideas, strong
ambitions,
good comedy, and gripping drama. CNR students are real people, not
easily categorized by popular modes and archetypes. Whether I am
listening to a presentation on what kind of nutrients Zebra Mollusks
like best, rooting for the softball team to beat Sarah Lawrence, or
arguing in class over whether Wordsworth or Keats is the greater poet,
I am in the motivating company of genuine, striving spirits.
I understand you first
taught at Co-op City. Could you comment or compare the two experiences
and the students that you have had?
The Co-op City Campus is part of the School of New
Resources, the College's neighborhood-based adult degree program.
Students tended to live or work in the area, which is what CNR had in
mind when it chose its campus locations. Course offerings in the
School of New Resources are planned to harmonize with the lives of
adults busy with full-time work and family commitments. My favorite
class while at Co-op City was Literature of the Harlem Renaissance. I
remember citing my students as experts on Zora Neale Hurston in a paper
I published on her novel Jonah's
Gourd Vine. SNR students were focused, hard-working, fun to be
around, and brought a wealth of life experience and desire to their
studies.
The same is true of the students in the School of Arts
and Sciences, but the role of education in students' life planning is a
little different. SAS students come from across the country, mostly
live on campus, and are generally of traditional age (although adult
students at the School of Arts and Science are welcome and among the
strongest contributors in the Department of English). Recently I was
asked to cite my SAS students’ writings on Virginia Woolf in an essay I
am publishing on teaching the novel Mrs.
Dalloway. Four students’ comments made it to my final draft and
I am equally proud to have collaborated with those twenty-somethings as
I was with the adults at SNR.
This question makes me realize that although the College
recognizes the differences between adult learners in SNR and
young-adult, female learners in SAS, and structures our educational
models in a way that accounts for those differences, the similarities
between the two populations -- work ethic, intellectual curiosity,
invaluable personal experiences that enrich the classroom experience --
are also very compelling.
Where do your students go after leaving school?
Recent graduates who have gone on for the M.A. or Ph.D.
are doing
their work at Columbia, The Actor’s Studio, the University of
Connecticut, Hunter, Fordham, and Queens College. Several English
majors have gone home to the towns they grew up in, taking jobs in
local newspapers and schools. Others moved to the city for their
careers and adventures.
