Joshua Fincher is a visiting assistant professor of classics. This interview was conducted and compiled by Tracy Wilson and has been edited for length and clarity. What languages do you know? Speaking-wise, I only know German, French, and a little bit of Mandarin. I can read Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit, Ugaritic, Avestan, Greek, and Latin. If...
John Somerville is a professor of English. This interview was conducted and compiled by Tracy Wilson and has been edited for length and clarity. What is one memory from your childhood that stands out to you? The event I recall took place during the South Korean student revolution in 1960. My brother, my friends, and...
What is one scientific concept that baffles you? Electricity. The wind turbine spins and next thing you know, you can plug in a hairdryer? That baffles me. Would you rather live in the tundra or in a rainforest? Oh boy, I like them both. A rainforest has more biological diversity, but way more tropical diseases....
Where did you attend college? Notre Dame for undergrad. Indiana University for graduate school. How did you propose to your wife? I wrote out 95 reasons why she should marry me and posted them on the cathedral door in Helena, Montana because she was Lutheran. I took her there at about 20 minutes to midnight...
How many children do you have? No kids. What’s your favorite movie? Can I pick two? The fact that I have a LEGO model of the Saturn 5 Rocket in my office might tip you off that I’m into NASA and space. My two favorite movies are related to NASA and space exploration: “The Right...