Courtesy | Michael Chambers
Michael Chambers is a vsiting assistant professor of English. This interview has been edited for length, clarity, and style.
What is one of the coolest things you have ever done?
I’ve gotten to stay twice now overnight in a French chateau that is owned by a friend of a friend. He’s a count but doesn’t like to talk about it because he’s a very humble guy. In this chateau, he had us stay in the same room that, a couple centuries earlier, Marie Antoinette stayed in.
What were some of your interests as a kid?
I played baseball starting in T-ball at five years old and I played competitively through high school. I was convinced up until I was maybe 15 or 16 years old that I was going to go pro and then reality set.
What is a simple thing that brings you joy?
A clear sky at night so I can see all the stars. And, most music, like some simple lulling piano tunes.
Who would you want to cast as the lead role in the movie of your life?
I’ve always been a big Christian Bale fan. I think he’s just a phenomenal actor and can assume so many roles. And I think that he has this kind of reflective look on his face all the time and I sort of think about that as me going through life just trying to reflect on things.
What is your favorite kind of music to listen to?
I could probably sum it up with both hard rock and metal, and then on the other hand post-punk. So guitar and melody-heavy music, rock and pop and that kind of area.
Do you speak any foreign languages?
I’d like to say I’m fluent in French and I sort of say that I can speak vulgar Spanish, such that if I were to find myself alone on the streets of Barcelona, I wouldn’t get killed. I could get myself out of situations. But French has been amazing because I’ve been able to spend a lot of time in France over the years.
What was one of your least favorite subjects in school?
By the time I got to senior year of high school I was in AP calculus, and math had gone from being this thing that I was really good at to “I just can’t wrap my head around double integrals.” I ran into this brick wall and it was so frustrating, and I thought the more I work at it, the more at some point I’ll be able to to bust through that wall and keep going. It was disheartening, but at the same time it reminded me that everybody can’t be good at everything.
What was your favorite non-major related subject in school?
Philosophy and various aspects of it, from Aristotelian to more modern philosophy.
What is your favorite word?
I came across this word that could be pronounced one of two ways, and you didn’t actually know which way to pronounce it even with the context of the poem. It was the word bowed. It could have been pronounced either bowed (rhyming with toad) or bowed (rhyming with loud), and I realized that this was just so fascinating: these kinds of words that are the exact same word where even given the context you can’t really know how to pronounce it.
Do you have a favorite book to teach?
I tend to say whatever book we’re discussing in class is my favorite. But if I were to choose I would probably say Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs. Dalloway.” She’s so innovative in the way she uses her narrator and weaves in and out of different and almost unrelated characters’ consciousnesses. It’s just really fascinating to see that work and that idea of knitting together a community out of isolated individuals.
What is one of the most beautiful places you have ever seen?
This one’s pretty easy for me. It is in France, but it’s very close to Switzerland. It’s called Lake Annecy. It’s this super pure Lake, in the foothills of the Alps that is nestled within these towering, snowy, and bare rock peaks. So you’re on the beach next to this lake that’s in this quaint kind of tourist town, but you have these just gigantic rising mountains around you. You get this feeling of awe of the nature around you and feel dwarfed in comparison with everything and it’s just amazing.
Do you have any dishes you really like to cook?
Homemade pizza. And I love making hearty, warm, cold weather French-Swiss dishes like a fondue or this dish called “tartiflette,” which is this casserole of onions, potatoes, pancetta, and special cheese on top called reblochon. It’s just this gooey, potatoey, wonderful goodness that just makes me feel ski lodge kind of vibes.
Do you have any favorite college memories?
I went to college at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. One thing that I really loved there was getting out of town, going into the mountains, driving around, and hiking.
What is some of the best advice you have ever received?
This is coming from numerous sources, but I would say something along the lines of don’t try to go it alone. Don’t try to do it all on your own. Ask for help when you need it.
