Curt Porter on Language’s Lasting Impact—Meet Our Faculty

What amazes Curt Porter the most about English, and languages in general, is how they are critical to every facet of human life. Learn more about him in this week's Meet Our Faculty feature.

What is it about the English field that initially drew you in-and ultimately keeps you interested?

I really had no idea what I wanted to major in when I started college. When I was 21, I actually took a year off of school and worked abroad. I met some people who had been teaching English as a Foreign Language. This seemed super-exciting to me, and when I went back to school, I decided to major in English education, because I thought it would give me a chance to travel and start my career at the same time.

After college, I was lucky enough to travel, work, and study abroad for roughly 10 years before coming back to the US and starting my job at IUP. What ultimately kept me in this field was an ongoing question of what the spread of English really means and how it impacts individuals, cultures, and countries. The relationship between language and culture is something that constantly amazes and surprises me.

Why do you enjoy teaching in this discipline?

I think my favorite part of teaching and working in English is that so many different activities and disciplines can be linked to it. "Language" can mean so many different things. Our department has faculty who are experts in linguistics, writing, literature, education, technology, video gaming, film, comics, and pop culture, . . . and the list goes on and on.

Being a part of our department has pushed me outside of my original areas of interest, and I've gotten a chance to learn about (and even teach) subjects that I didn't necessarily care all that much about when I was in graduate school. This keeps things interesting and forces me to stay curious and humble.

This is a tough question. People seem to have a lot of different reasons for going to college and very different expectations about what they're going to get from it. I guess the one thing I'd really emphasize is that having a degree doesn't guarantee anything. You can't magically trade your college degree for the job of your dreams. When you leave here, you'll be expected to be able to write, research, and think creatively and independently. So, try not to think of each class as a hurdle or a hoop toward your eventual goal of a degree. Look at every class as a chance to develop knowledge and skills that will help you get where you want to be.