I was first introduced to Dr. Pittman as a senior in high school when I had the opportunity to visit Andrews University for the first time. A friend was generous enough to give me an unofficial tour of the campus, and when we traveled through Buller Hall there was a brief yet pleasant encounter with Dr. Pittman as she spent some time engaging in conversation with us. I remember despite us catching her at a busy time on that Friday afternoon, she graciously talked with us for a few moments as I shared my hopeful plans for being an English major. The interaction left me feeling inspired and excited to return in the Fall as an official AU student. I’m grateful for the faculty and staff on our campus who invest in the lives of the students as we navigate through the tumultuous college experience. Dr. Pittman, a Professor of English and the Director of the J. N. Andrews Honors Program, is certainly one of the many supportive faculty members here who encourage their students to become future success stories.
What is your current field of study/expertise? Why did this area interest you?
I’m a Shakespeare in performance and adaptation scholar, with a specific focus on the representation of gender, class, and race in productions and appropriations. My PhD work focused on constructions of gender so that interest has actually been part of my scholarly journey for a long time; frankly, my Honors Thesis at Andrews University also examined literary treatments of female containment and agency. I’ve definitely been consistent in my focus, though that feminist theoretical orientation has widened over the years to better account for intersectional identities that layer forms of marginalization such as race, class, and sexuality in addition to gender.
What is your favorite book genre? Does this differ from your favorite film genre, and if so, what is it?
I’d say my favorite genres are a toss-up: I LOVE beyond all expression epic poetry (Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Milton, all the boys); however, I’m also very fond of the nineteenth-century English novel (many of which were written by women). To study and teach, probably epic; to read for comfort and personal illumination, the nineteenth-century novel. In film and television series, both Paul (my partner) and I gravitate towards spy or political thrillers, and that probably connects to our shared interest in global politics as well as my own obsession with Shakespeare’s history plays, which are my prime scholarly focus at the moment (and which repeatedly examine the power-brokering that defines nation-building). My book on the history plays of Shakspeare in third-millennium performance actually comes out this month (“Shakespeare’s Contested Nations: Race, Gender, and Multicultural Britain in Performances of the History Plays” Routledge, 2022).
What has been your favorite class to teach at Andrews University?
That’s also a really hard question. I have the profound honor to teach Honors Literature and the Arts every semester; that means that mistakes I make one term in terms of planning the class and activities, I have the pleasure to address and attempt to correct the next term. I love the chance to tweak and adjust and “noodle” with elements of the course and to continue to add new, interesting readings and artistic artifacts to the class. In that course, I’m forever learning new things and seeing the world from new points of view because of the incredible multi-disciplinary students in the J. N. Andrews Honors Program. They are my joy! But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also say that since it’s my specialty, I love teaching Shakespeare and Film, spending so much time talking about how filmmakers remake Shakespeare’s drama with the great students in the Department of English.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
In an academic setting, you meet such incredible, curious, humane individuals every year. So, without a doubt, my favorite thing about my job would be my students in Honors and my colleagues who teach and advise in the Honors program. As a member of the English department, I also have the honor of teaching and working with people who taught me and, now that the years have gone by, former students whom I once taught! The generational continuity in the English department is a special gift and one I do not take for granted. It creates a distinctive sense of belonging in the world. Furthermore, I’m especially lucky to teach and conduct scholarship with a precious friend and fellow Shakespeare scholar, Dr. Vanessa Corredera.
Who is someone you have always wanted to meet, but haven’t had the chance to?
I would love to have tea and gossip with Jane Austen and George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans).
List your favorite novel at the moment and why it has interested you.
I’m currently reading “The Silence of the Girls” by Pat Barker; it’s a fascinating retelling of Homer’s “Iliad” from the perspective of Achilles’s war prize, Briseis. I’m planning on teaching it next year in my epic and adaptation course (please consider enrolling in it!).
What has been your favorite memory so far this semester?
Two things: returning to attending Shakespeare Association of America in person where I met Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury of “Bridgerton” as well as a renowned theater actor and director), and seeing my Honors seniors’ faces for the first time in two years at our Honors Thesis Symposium this past Friday, April 15. Both experiences brought home so acutely the fullness of human connection possible when we see the face of the other; as my favorite philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas explains, the face calls us each to make room for one another, to share the world with each other, to care for one another. I pray we won’t be cut off from our friends and colleagues’ faces for quite so long ever again.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.