As the new year and spring semester starts, many people find themselves in need of something to inspire them. After I finished the novel The Year of Magical Thinking, I thought I would take Joan Didion’s advice to “learn, work it up, and go to literature” and who better to ask for inspiration than a scholar of composition and literature?
Upstairs CLI in room 2137, Professor Mawyer and I sat for an interview discussing media, inspiration, and the importance of questioning.
(Credit – Photo by: Mary Sisk)
RVC Valley Forge: “Introduce yourself, your field, how long you’ve been teaching, and why you teach what you teach.”
Professor Mawyer: “Okay, so Rob Mawyer. I teach English at Rock Valley College; our official department title is ‘Composition and Literature’. I’m actually the chairperson of our department. I’ve been teaching English at the community college level for almost twenty years, fifteen here at Rock Valley. I taught full-time at Heartland Community College in Bloomington-Normal before moving here to Rockford and Rock Valley College.
I think I teach English for two reasons: one is, I think I always was going to be a teacher. My mom was a teacher, and I grew up in schools, she taught high school. I just kind of watched her do the work that she did, and it seemed appealing, despite the challenges. Then, I think once I got to college, I saw the benefits of teaching at the college level. That seemed attractive to me, and my English classes were always my favorite ones you know? So that’s ultimately why I gravitated towards this area and this job within that area.”
RVC Valley Forge: “Did you have a second field you were interested in teaching?”
Professor Mawyer: “I minored in history and the field of history, the teaching of history was definitely something that was attractive to me, but I never seriously pursued that because English was the first love so that was really what I set my sights on.”
RVC Valley Forge: “So the main question is, what is at least one, piece of media you recommend to RVC students and why?”
Professor Mawyer: “Okay, so what I would recommend. For those RVC students who are comfortable with grown up content one show that’s on Netflix I believe, that really is challenging, but I think there’s a lot of interest there is a show called Mindhunter. There are two seasons of Mindhunter, and it focuses on FBI investigators back in the 1970’s who are basically creating this field of the profiler and that’s the kind of detective we see in all sorts of crime shows like Criminal Minds and all that. This show, Mindhunter, gives us a fictionalized account of the investigators who really developed this field.
One reason why it immediately popped to my mind when you asked this question is because it’s obviously got that kind of crime appeal. This is why people watch these because you want to see detectives hunt down serial killers and find them. Then there’s the crimes, and the solving, and the whodunnit, and all that’s there and it’s entertaining to watch. I think it’s interesting to watch for students and budding scholars because what you see are people asking questions that haven’t been asked or answered ever before. They’re asking questions that a lot of people, who are kind of established in that field or profession, think are the wrong questions to ask. I guess I just want to as a teacher, if nothing else, just show students, teach students how much good stuff has come from people asking questions and then trying to find the answers to those questions. If you’re interested in crime and grizzly serial killer types of shows, then that’s a really good one, I think.”
A scene from “Mindhunter”
(Credit – Photo provided by: Netflix)
“Another one that’s kind of recent on Disney+ is this very long, exhaustive documentary on The Beatles called “Get Back,” I believe. I am not a Beatles fanatic; I wouldn’t even call myself a Beatles fan at all. I don’t particularly love their music, I’ve not been super curious about their role in music history throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, but I did over break watch the documentary, all eight hours of it and I was just blown away by watching these two creative geniuses: Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Again, whose work I had never appreciated so much. Watching them interact, and play off each other, and do nothing more than just try to make beautiful things is really, really inspiring to me. I really think there’s an important value in people who are inclined to try to make beautiful things. We’re not going to be Paul McCartney or John Lennon, but there is nothing wrong with trying to create things. It’s really inspiring, and I’m inspired by people who do that.”
(Credit – Disney+)
RVC Valley Forge: “How have these pieces of media impacted you?”
Professor Mawyer: “I just feel like we are living in a magical time where more entertainment and stuff is available to us on demand, whenever we want it if we can afford all those services and technologies. In addition to just being entertained, we can be exposed to things that help us to see the world a little differently, to get us thinking and that’s all good stuff.”
RVC Valley Forge: “Do you have any parting words?”
Professor Mawyer: “I would just say seek out things that are entertaining, and stimulating, and get you thinking, and doing. Once you have gotten to a point in your life where you are meeting your basic needs and you’re meeting the needs of other people, there’s a lot of hours in the day that need to be filled. That would be a way to feel meaningful and purposeful in your life, to seek out things that make you feel and find activities that get you doing. Doing with your mind and your hands, that’s what I would say, but who am I? What do I know?”
I hope this interview inspires anybody reading to create beautiful things, find entertainment in life, and get thinking and doing as Professor Mawyer said.
