Charles Yost throws tea into the Boston Harbor with Professor of History David Stewart.
Alessia Sandala | Collegian

In this Quick Hits, Assistant Professor in Medieval History Charles Yost talks cigarettes, Iowa, and Pelagianism.

If you weren’t teaching history, what career could you see yourself in?

A monk scrawling out anonymous polemics that some poor graduate student will have to study in 800 years.

Where are you from?

I am from God’s country: Iowa.

What’s your favorite part about where you’re from?

The vast stretch of sky and the beautiful humans, who may in fact be outnumbered by the pigs.

What is your favorite period of history and why?

The Middle Ages, without question. We do a fundamental injustice to medieval men and women by so labelling their era, because there was nothing “middle-aged” about them. They saw everything in the vivid colors of cathedral glass; it is we who see reality in boring beige. They loved and hated with feelings and passions of which modern people seem incapable. It is rather we who are the middle-aged ones. They were young and heroic.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

Have you ever done something illegal in a foreign country?

Yes: drink beers in Turkey on election day, which is forbidden. The baristas at the cafe were good enough to put it into a Burger King cup and call it apple juice. 

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

Kebab (what the Christians call “souvlaki”).

If you could buy a Lego set of any historical event, what would it be and why?

Maybe the Inquisition or the Trial of Saddam Hussein or something like this. I am imagining all the little Lego figurines with their ineradicable smiley faces in the midst of a really grim situation.  

If you were going to subscribe to a medieval heresy, which one would you pick and why? 

Pelagianism. (But from the Byzantine perspective, I am already an azymite heretic). 

What’s a funny thing students do?

The way they make a big deal when they see me in public places. I am grateful for the enthusiasm (I think that is what it is…), but I am not always sure how to respond.

What is your favorite type of nicotine and why?

Cigarettes. They are the most effective vehicle for a swift and potent nicotine hit. I smoke Lucky Strikes (short reds), but if you want to buy me some, I’ll take the more expensive American Spirits. 

Alessia Sandala contributed to this article.