Faculty Profile - Barry Faulk
When I told Barry Faulk I wanted to do a piece on him for the website, he was flattered. Not only was he flattered, but he actually offered to write some material himself. Makes my job easier. Now how can you not like someone who does that? I can't promise that Dr. Faulk would do your job for you if you were to take a course with him, but I can promise that he would make the daunting (e.g. Derrida) feel inviting (e.g. Marx), or at least feasible (e.g. Bourdieu). My examples here are not inappropriate-Faulk is the director of the theory certificate program, and, as Critical Issues (Intro to Theory) is a required course for all English graduate students, chances are you might be learning your Foucault from Faulk.
To be frank, Barry Faulk is a cool guy. And it's not just because he's read and completely understands and can explain in a way that you will understand Walter Benjamin's The Arcades Project. He also knows his shit about music, is interested in scholarly studies of popular culture, and is quite a disarming and friendly person. The kind of professor who will take you just as seriously when you wax poetic about Dickens as he will when you rave about the Donnas..
What else can I tell you about Dr. Faulk? Besides that he is well-loved by colleagues and students alike, it seems to me worth noting that Faulk is a part of a younger faculty force that is creating an edgy, vital, and mold-shattering scholarly environment in our English department. And we graduate students are the better for it now, and in the long run.
Okay, after all that (you've been waiting in anticipation), I think it's time to let Faulk speak for himself. Read on for Faulk's meditations on the intellectual environment of the English department, his scholarly pursuits, and what makes Tallahassee a good place for him (and you) to be.
"My colleagues, and the range of their intellectual agendas, make the Literature program here a great place to be. For many of them, their training in literature and history extends into aspects of non-literary culture. This interest takes various forms; sometimes it translates into popular culture, television studies, film analysis or new media; others find their intellectual curiosity takes them into other disciplines: into theatre, sociology, philosophy, or political science. This intellectual curiosity seems rooted in a broader interest in explaining how literature and art function in the world outside the university, which I admire.
"I was trained as a Victorianist, with a particular interest in Victorian theatre and performance: but I'm keenly interested in the legacy of Victorian concepts and practices for subsequent generations: a PARTICULAR notion of popular culture and commercial leisure, as well as highly specific version of the famous idea of a "Culture divide" (the notion that culture is divided along clearly bounded lines separating high culture from mass or popular culture: though I'm writing an essay on painter Walter Sickert-who wasn't Jack the Ripper, despite what Patricia Cornwell writes-which argues that the Victorian mind, or even the next generation of British modernists, weren't quite as occupied with the idea of a gulf between high and low art forms as scholars have claimed). It's fascinating how the key concepts of culture that arise my period of study reemerge or, more accurately, get a slight makeover in contemporary life.
"I'm impatient with specialization if being a specialist means I can't ask questions about the uses of the past for the present, and I sense my colleagues share this conviction. I believe students in non-traditional areas of study or area will find our department a comfortable, friendly, and stimulating environment in which to pursue their intellectual interests.
"And living in Tallahassee makes being at FSU special too. I'm not being ironic: little things can go a long way. Tallahassee isn't a big city, which means it's not crammed with nightlife: but if you go to a show or a restaurant, it's also unlikely to be too crowded, noisy, or expensive. And I've found that you don't have to look too hard to find lots of interesting things to do and see. There are always scrumptious lunches at the Renaissance café, fine music, food and local art to see in our funky Railroad square art district, which celebrates itself and the art scene the first Friday of each month. And if you're a dinosaur like me who still likes to see live bands, you often find yourself with too much on your plate. Just this spring I've seen Kaki King, guitarist extraordinaire, and Andrew Bird, multi-instrumental wizard, bring their own different versions of musical virtuosity to the Club Downunder, in the FSU student union. The DU is an intimate venue, with great sound and great sightlines on the stage. I saw Alejandro Escovedo, recovered from Hepatitis 3, revisit his punk rock roots with a crack band that included local songwriter/guitar hero, Pat Puckett, at the same venue, not to mention, Sharon Jones, soul diva number one, at another local venue; who took the stage with a verve that made Iggy Pop seem reserved. Jones was backed by the Dap-Kings, a soul band that was tight, precise, yet explosive. And I just had the pleasure of seeing Dead Meadow and Dinosaur Jr. play at yet another local club, with the latter destroying what little remains of my hearing. Thanks, J. All in all, it adds up to God's plenty."
God's plenty indeed. With Barry Faulk, our departmental cup runneth over.
photos and prose by Molly Hand