By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
Paul Thifault, an Associate Professor of English at Springfield College, makes a point of sharing his love of literature with students. With specific interests in topics such as early American literature and Native American studies, Thifault teaches a number of literature and writing-based courses.
Before coming to Springfield, Thifault taught as a graduate student at Fordham University in New York, and he also worked at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Ky. Thifault is passionate about teaching in a manner that allows his students to translate what they’ve learned to other areas of their lives.
Thifault sat down with The Student to discuss the best parts about working at Springfield College, his favorite book and more.
The Student: What’s your favorite part about your job?
Thifault: I really love working with the students at Springfield College because they have such a positive energy. They bounce back from setbacks easily and they are generally very honest students – when they’re having trouble, they tell me about it. I’ve worked at lots of places where you have to do a lot of guesswork as a faculty member to figure out if people are succeeding in or enjoying the course.
The Student: What’s your favorite class to teach?
Thifault: That’s an almost impossible question for me to answer. Part of what I like about teaching at Springfield College is that on your average day, I get to teach early American literature, which is my area of specialty, probably my favorite subject matter. But then I’ll switch to teaching first-year writing, where I get to talk about the actual writing of essays, and being argumentative and persuasive. Often I get to teach themed classes like Literature and the Law that take a global look at literature to see its social impact in the world. I guess I have different favorites on different days.
The Student: What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed during your time at Springfield?
Thifault: In the English program a few years ago, my colleagues took some steps to streamline the college writing curriculum. We used to all really do our own thing, and this has been a great change for the positive. Now we get to have a lot stronger conversations with one another about ‘How are you teaching this type of essay or that type of essay’, so that’s been one major change. I’ve also seen a lot of beloved colleagues retire, and hire new colleagues.
The Student: What’s your favorite spot on campus?
Thifault: Without a doubt Weiser Hall. It’s got character, it’s mislabeled. So many students come in and out these doors and walk past my office every day, I really feel like I’m at the center of something.
The Student: What’s your favorite book?
Thifault: If you ask me this month, my favorite book is The Sketch Book by Washington Irving, which contains the famous stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. I think it really captures something about the early United States, and I think it’s laugh out loud funny.
The Student: How do you want to be remembered?
Thifault: I’d like to be remembered as a professor whose classes challenged students to find things that seem boring, interesting after a second read. And I’d like to be known as someone who was happy to help students take what they learned in my class and apply it to far-flung areas like job applications and career prospects.
The Student: What makes you smile without fail?
Thifault: Lighthearted graffiti to the James Naismith statue.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College)