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신임교수 11명이 부경대학교에 부임했다. 신임교수들의 면면을 e-mail 인터뷰를 통해 소개한다.<편집자주>
 □ Where did you graduate from and what major do you have? And how long have you been the position related with the major?
I am a New Zealander who graduated from Victoria University of Wellington, NZ (undergraduate and graduate degrees) and from Massey University, NZ (PhD degree). I started teaching in 1991, initially as an ESL teacher, and later expanding to the field of English literature. In 2001, I came to Pukyong National University as an instructor in the Freshman English Department, and served as Academic Coordinator from 2004 to 2006. I returned to New Zealand in 2006 to undertake a PhD in English (literature), and came back to Pukyong in 2010 after completing my doctorate. In 2012 I was invited to join the English faculty as an assistant professor at Dong-A University, where I taught English literature and language (and served as Head Teacher) until February 2014. I have now returned to Pukyong National University as a member of the faculty of English Language and Literature, and feel that my academic career has come full circle.
□ Which class are you going to be in charge and what is the content about?
I will be teaching four courses in the spring 2014 semester: two undergraduate and two graduate courses. The undergraduate classes are “Introduction to English Literature,” which is an overview of British and American literature from Chaucer to the present day (including selections from novels, short stories, poetry and drama), and “Studies in Modern Drama,” in which we will analyze two plays, one American (the Pulitzer-Prize winning Doubt) and the other British (Educating Rita). The two graduate classes are “Literacy Development Through Non-Fiction Books,” an introduction to techniques for developing literacy in children, and “Studies in Modern Drama 1,” in which we will analyze two classic plays (and their respective film adaptations): Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire.
□ What is the most noticeable research result among you did?
To date my most prominent research outcome has been the extent to which writers will go in order to protect their original conception of their work, whether it be a play, novel or screenplay, and how adapters will often willfully romanticize others’ work for the sake of commercial viability. During the course of writing my PhD dissertation on Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, I discovered that Shaw’s increasingly desperate attempts to salvage his play from the efforts to adapters to change it from an anti-romantic satire to a conventional fairytale actually tarnished his original play.
□ What is your goal of future researches?
The purpose of my future research is to focus on comparative literature studies, analyzing the adaptations of nineteenth and twentieth century novels and plays across different media, including cinema and musical theater. (I also have a background in cinema and playwriting, having worked for the New Zealand National Film Unit in the early 1980s, and had a play of mine professionally produced on New Zealand Television while in my teens.) Avenues of exploration will include the different conventions of particular media in adaptation and the attempts by adapters, in certain instances, to improve on perceived weaknesses of the original work.
□ What do you think about the direction of development and future about your major?
I see my major field—English literature, with a specialization in modern drama—as presenting two challenges, both of which I fully intend to overcome. In the first instance, I am keenly aware of the challenging nature of critically analyzing plays in a foreign language. Second, I appreciate that some students struggle to comprehend the practical benefits of obtaining a degree in English literature (especially given the current popularity of business degrees). My goal, in the first instance, is to make English literature not only accessible and enjoyable to students (through what I hope will be my infectious passion for the subject), while in the second instance, I intend to emphasize how the subject not only develops the individual’s ability to think critically—a crucial skill in today’s workplace—but the sheer variety of lucrative and rewarding career paths that this field can lead to, e.g. education, journalism, translation and interpreting, to name but a few.
□ Which book has made the deepest impression on you?
The book that impressed me the most was George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch (1872), which I read while I was an undergraduate student at Victoria University. One of the great examples of nineteenth century realism, this vast novel, with its multiple plots and vast array of characters, tackles many fascinating themes, ranging from marriage and the status of women to religion and education. Eliot is an extraordinary novelist, and her work continues to speak meaningfully to readers more than 140 years after its publication.
□ Where is your most impressed travel destination and why?
The tourist spot that has impressed me the most in Korea is Oedo(외도), which I found an utterly enchanting island. As an avid gardener back in New Zealand, I was deeply impressed by Oedo’s stunning array of plant species. It is a garden paradise!
□ What is the motto of your life?
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” This famous quotation from Oscar Wilde’s 1892 play Lady Windermere’s Fan sums up my belief that no one should settle for mediocrity.
□ Please give sentences for students who are trying hard to achieve their dream.
My advice to students who are working hard for their futures? Aspire to “think outside of the box.” Be original, and don’t follow the herd (i.e. don’t copy what everyone else is doing). And remember that the right career path may not be obvious to you yet, so don’t despair if you still haven’t discovered it. (I didn’t realize that teaching was the right profession for me until I was almost 30.) And most of all, don’t waste your working life by settling for a job that does not stimulate you.
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