In our recent interview with M.A. and Ph.D. alum Lindsey Panxhi, an Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, we asked her about her favorite memories of being a student in the graduate program at the U of A. We also got an update on her first four years working at OBU and her new role as the Director of the Honors Program there. Lindsey also discussed a few of her favorite medieval authors and texts to teach, as well as the reasons for her strong endorsement of taking and teaching college courses abroad.
After graduating with your B.A. from John Brown University, you spent a number of years at the University of Arkansas pursuing first your M.A. and then your Ph.D. here. Do you have one or two favorite memories of being a graduate student that you can share with us?
I have so many wonderful memories. One of the greatest privileges and highlights was getting to serve as a trip coordinator and teaching assistant for Dr. Quinn’s 5-week study abroad trip to London and northern England. During that trip, I also had the chance to present a paper (in a castle!) at a medieval conference at Durham University and to do research with 12th century manuscripts in the British Library and Cambridge University Library. On site in Fayetteville, I greatly enjoyed learning medieval Welsh from Dr. Josh Smith, taking part in his Latin reading group and watching the bizarre quasi-medieval movies (like Beowulf & Grendel with Gerard Butler) that he’d occasionally show on campus. Plus, I spent many delightful hours reading and browsing in our university library, in the Dickson Street Bookstore, and in the Fayetteville Public Library.
After graduating with your Ph.D. in 2016, specializing in Medieval Literature and Culture, you were hired as an Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. How have the last four years at OBU allowed you to develop your research and interests in Medieval Studies in new ways?
OBU has excellent funding for professional development, which has enabled me to present twice at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Michigan and at the Medieval Academy of America in Toronto. I have also been able to network with professors at OU and OSU where there is an active, welcoming community of medievalists and where I gave a talk sponsored by OU’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies in Norman about 12th century werewolf narratives. I hope to keep working on original research this summer, when the busy pace of the semester draws to a close.
Last year, you were appointed to be the new Director of the Honors Program at OBU. What’s been the most rewarding and the most challenging aspects of taking on that second role?
The most rewarding aspect of directing Honors is getting to spend more time in Honors classes with inquisitive, energetic students who love learning and show up eager to engage with complex ideas. The most challenging aspect is simply the large amount of administrative time and effort that is required. We have 100 Honors students, and it’s a challenge to balance lesson prep and research with all of the administrative work, advising meetings, and Honors events.
You’ve taught a wide range of literary authors and texts – Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Young Adult Literature, Fantasy Literature, British Mystery Writers. What is one of your favorite authors or texts to teach, and why?
It sounds unoriginal, but I’ll never tire of teaching Beowulf, and that is due to the excellent instruction in Old English provided by Dr. Quinn and Dr. Smith. I translated all 3,000+ lines of Beowulf in a graduate seminar at the U of A, and that opened up my understanding of intricate, vivid beauties of Anglo-Saxon poetry in an unforgettable way. I also love teaching the lais of Marie de France, the feisty travelogues of Gerald of Wales, and the poetry of George Herbert and Gerard Manley Hopkins.
When you were at the University of Arkansas, you participated in Bill Quinn’s 5-week study abroad program to London and northern England as a TA. Now you are leading your own students, at OBU, on study abroad trips to England. Why do you think studying abroad is such a rewarding form of academic experience, and what’s another country that you’d love to take students to in the future (and why)?
Yes, in summer 2018, I designed a study abroad trip for a group of 15 Honors students, and my ability to plan this trip was based on the experience I had gained helping lead Bill’s trip. We were based in the heart of London for a month and took day trips to places like Oxford, Cambridge, and Hampton Court Palace, and weekend trips to Scotland and Wales. I took another group of 16 Honors students in summer 2019, and it was rewarding to watch students’ understanding of literature, Western civilization, religious history, and artistic productions flourish and deepen in a way it never can when they’re just reading out of textbooks in the States. In the future, I would love to take students on a trip to Albania, Greece, and Italy. I envision it as a Greco-Roman tour of the Mediterranean. My husband is Albanian, and he could guide us through the Roman ruins in Albanian port cities like Durres, then we could cross the southern border of Albania to study the cultural productions of classical Greece in Athens, and then head to Italy to study the Roman Republic and Empire. That is my dream trip! Perhaps one upcoming summer we’ll be able to make it happen.