Fall 2008 

Faculty Highlight

Favorite book:
Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man”

Favorite movie:
“Lone Star”

Areas of interest (work and/or leisure):
Literarily, I am interested in the ways that American writers’ sense of place informs their perspectives on the world, from the romantics’ connection to the natural world to the modernists’ fascination with the city. Similarly in my leisure time, I love the vibrancy of culture and food in cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, while on weekends I’m always looking for a new place to go for a hike.

People don’t know that I …
have a six-month-old baby boy.

Describe a favorite classroom experience:
In my Literature of Service class, I have been amazed to listen to students as they link what we read in the classroom with the service they are doing out in the community. Often, these connections are not obvious. When we read Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper” that describes a fictionalized woman trapped in her room to help “cure” her of a nervous disorder, the students noted that the image of service in this text was actually a dis-service. The woman’s doctor assumed he had all the answers for her, and this assumption actually helped lead to her nervous breakdown. When they extended this realization to their work in the community, the students concluded that they could not assume what was best for the people they served. Instead, they reasoned, they had to actively listen to the people in the community to begin to understand their needs.

What would you most like students to learn from your classes?
I love it when students take risks in the classroom, trying to work out their ideas in the company of their peers. Often, the “riskier” interpretations are the hardest to work through, but they are also the ones with the biggest payoff. I am always pleased with the level of thought that goes into creative readings of literary texts. And I hope my students learn to have the confidence to make the difficult claim, and then to know that they have the skills to make their cases persuasive. More broadly, I would most like my students to learn how to use their abilities of logical analysis to examine the world and their place in it.

What would you most like students to gain through their years at St. Norbert College? 
I would like students to gain a sense of confidence in their abilities and the desire to use their skills in any number of possible careers. I hope that they can allow themselves the freedom to love the process of learning itself, as this will return to them throughout their lives.

What book from your classes would you recommend to parents so that they can learn as their student learns and have something to discuss with him or her?
Ernest Gaines’ “A Lesson Before Dying”

Name:
Deirdre Egan

Discipline:
English/American Studies

Hometown: 
Garden City, New York 

Academic Credentials: 
B.A., College of the Holy Cross; M.A. and Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fall Semester Classes:
Introduction to Literature, Introduction to American Studies, Modern Poetry