Let’s talk about our amazing faculty! First up is Dr. Andrew Pisano. Check out our Q&A with Dr. Pisano below…
1. What is your role at UofSC Union, and how long have you worked here? “I have been at USCU since August 2016. I am an Assistant Professor of English, the coordinator for the Writing Center, and I advise in-coming and current students.”
2. What brought you to UofSC Union? “I wanted to teach at a smaller college where I can actually get to know my students and engage in more personalized learning in the classroom. I found that at USCU.”
3. What is your favorite thing about UofSC Union? “I am fortunate to have great colleagues. I also enjoy the opportunity to teach interested students about writing, research, and American literature. I have encountered many wonderfully inquisitive, bright, and ambitious students at USCU. They remind me of why I love my job.”
4. What is the best part about being a faculty member at UofSC Union? “I never take for granted USCU’s commitment to academic freedom. By that, I mean that faculty are encouraged to teach within their discipline as well as try out new subject matter in the classroom. Since joining the faculty at USCU, I have designed and taught several classes that were slightly afield from my area of research. That’s not exactly common at other colleges or universities. So, in terms of academic freedom, I feel very fortunate to be on faculty at USCU.”
5. What are your hobbies/interests (other than making UofSC Union great)? “I love cooking, books, movies, and music. I’ll pull back the curtain on my musical hobbies. I’ve been playing guitar for almost twenty-five years. I enjoy writing songs when I have the time, and I’ve performed live in various settings in PA, NC, and SC. I’m also an all-around music buff. I love everything from 1950s-60s lounge music to Tropicalia, Bossa Nova, Rock, Indie, Folk, Jazz, Psychedelia, Blues, Ambient, Afro Pop, classical Indian, Reggae, Metal, Bluegrass, and Country/Western. Much of the breadth of my listening comes from collecting vinyl and befriending other likeminded audiophiles. I’ve been rifling through antique stores, flea markets, thrift stores, and going to record stores and record conventions since I was in my early 20s. I currently have around 800 albums. I also enjoy seeing live music when I can. I’ve been to sixty Phish concerts and have seen a variety of other artists in concert, from NYC to Miami, Cincinnati to Philadelphia, Las Vegas to Washington DC, Atlanta to Limestone, Maine.”
6. What is the most helpful advice you’ve received? “After my dissertation defense, I thanked my dissertation advisor for her invaluable guidance and care in my education. She responded: “Pay it forward. That’s all I ask.” That advice always rings in the back of my mind.”
7. What are a few titles that you think every college student should read?
-Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life-Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography -John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath-Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855 edition)-Kate Chopin’s The Awakening -Toni Morrison’s Beloved-Cormac McCarthy’s The Road-Jack Kerouac’s On the Road-William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying -Anne Bradstreet’s The Tenth Muse -Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine -Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment -Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man-Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects-Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence (original and revised drafts)-Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth
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