You are sure to find Dr. Daniel Dooghan, assistant professor of world literature at the University of Tampa, at his office any time. That is, as long as he’s not in class. I met up with Dr. Dooghan to talk about what a typical hour in his office might look like.
His desk is thoughtfully disorganized with books he is reading and papers he is grading. “Talks in China,” “The Chinese Classics” and “The Book of Lieh-tzu” are some of the books stacked on his desk. On the wall above his computer is a propaganda poster from the People’s Republic of China (1974) with Lu Xun in the background, the man Dr. Dooghan wrote his dissertation on, and three people from the revolutionary class in the front: a peasant, a factory worker and a soldier. All three carry writing utensils. Dr. Dooghan explained, “We can see that these historically oppressed classes are now literate and the implication is that the Communists have something to do with that.” At the bottom of the poster is a statement (written in Chinese) that says, “Study Lu Xun’s revolutionary spirit. Become a leader in criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius.”
There’s one thing you need to know if you plan to stop by his office for a chat or help with an assignment: be prepared to learn. I have never walked into his office without coming out feeling bit smarter. Conversations with Dr. Dooghan are winding to say the least. One topic always manages to lead into another, and by the end of the conversation you wonder how the conversation got to that point. He has three bookshelves in his office. One is for literature texts with his collection of Lu Xun at the top, one is for scholarly journals and textbooks and one is for literary criticisms and foreign languages. If he doesn’t have the answers to your questions in his office, he will find them.
A guitar sits in the back corner behind his desk. “I have a guitar because: one, I play the guitar and it’s important to practice. And two, if you’ve been grading or doing research or procrastinating for two to three hours, sometimes it’s nice to do something else,” Dooghan said. He plays songs by The Who a lot. “It’s just a relaxing break in the activity. It’s either that or walk to the mailroom four times a day which I do to procrastinate my activities, but it is somewhat more productive.”
When he’s not grading papers, playing the guitar or in class, he’s almost always free to talk. “That’s what I’m here for,” Dooghan said.
Kelly St.Onge can be reached at kelly.st.onge@theminaretonline.com.
Nice article. I feel like I would like to stop by for a chat to.