We interviewed Donald Pease, Dartmouth’s favorite professor

Professor Pease is an iconic Dartmouth professor, known for teaching American Drama.

I took the class last spring with the legendary professor and had a wonderful time – he has the most popular class out of any teacher at Dartmouth.

We sat down with the man himself to find out more.

When and where did you land your first job as a professor?

I entered the job market in 1973 when the prospects for landing a tenure-track position were almost as discouraging as they are today. After the University of Chicago sent him my dossier, Ned Perrin, the Chair of Dartmouth’s Search Committee, invited me to interview for the position of Assistant Professor in 19th Century American literature and modern American drama. The hour-long interview, which took place in a stuffy New York hotel room, was quite intense. The members of the search committee had read my writing sample carefully, and the incisive questions they raised turned the interview into a Dartmouth seminar. I came away from that interview with a strong sense of the Dartmouth English Department’s commitment to teaching and research, and an even stronger desire to join Dartmouth’s ranks.

Have you held any other jobs besides teaching?

In graduate school, I worked as a night clerk at a Chicago hotel.

What do you like best about being a professor at Dartmouth?

I can think of no forum more effective at proving the enduring value of the liberal arts than the literature classroom.

What is the hardest part of your job as a professor?

Grading student exams.

Your classes routinely receive among the most sign-ups of any Dartmouth courses. What is your favorite class to teach and what lessons do you hope to impart on students in this class?

I love teaching 19th Century American fiction and American drama. The novels and plays we take up are the outcome of extremely focused acts of imaginative consciousness, and they require passionate yet patient attention to engage responsibly. I believe that learning how to respond to literary works educates our social imagination. So I try to bring students into conversation with these writings in a way that awakens the imaginative world that lies dormant within each student. That requires turning the classroom into a forum that is open to multiple, often incompatible interpretations. In my courses on 19th Century American fiction and American drama, I aspire to show students how these plays and novels come to imaginative terms with fundamental human quandaries. In my discussions with individual students, I try to awaken their desire to compose thoughtfully composed yet creative responses to these quandaries.

What are some of your hobbies?

Hiking, learning to cook Szechuan style Chinese food, and Hatha Yoga.

What would you consider to be your greatest success in your life?

From an early age, I dreamed of becoming a teacher, I have been fortunate to live the life I dreamed.

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to complete a book on The Afterlife of the American Renaissance within the next year. I also plan to write a critical biography of Tennessee Williams.

Professor Pease is a legend. If you have not taken American Drama, I would highly recommend the course.