Home/The Source/Upon Retirement: Q&A with Professor of English Kurt Fosso
Upon Retirement: Q&A with Professor of English Kurt Fosso
Professor of English Kurt Fosso spent 30 years at Lewis & Clark, fostering a joyful, life-changing environment for his students. Throughout his tenure, he cherished the college’s enduring community spirit and scenic beauty, even moonlighting as a guitarist in a faculty rock band. Read the full Q&A to learn more about his career and what he looks forward to in his retirement.
As the story opens, in 1994, I was living in western Pennsylvania and teaching at the College of Wooster in the middle of Ohio. Back then, one looked for jobs via a mailed jobs list, interviewed at a humanities convention, and hopefully advanced from there. The 1994 convention was in San Diego, and I interviewed with a few members of L&C’s English department, including, as I recall, the very person I’d replace as he himself ventured into retirement. I was invited for an on-campus interview and of course loved L&C. A week or so later, I jumped at the job offer. When I informed my mother, who lived up in Seattle, she wept.
What was your favorite course(s) to teach?
What didn’t I love to teach?! All of it, and every year. Certainly my favorites have been:
Animals and Animal Rights
Literary Theory
Ancient Masterpieces and English Literature (from Gilgamesh and Homer to Ovid and the gospels)
Classes on the poet-artist William Blake
The crème de la crème that is our literature survey, from the Romantics to the Moderns and postcolonial authors (English 206)
One of my real regrets about retiring this year was not being able to teach once more my Frankenstein and the Shelleys senior seminar.
What did you enjoy most about your work?
Sharing my love of literature—and my belief that learning, not least about literature, ought to be fun, and the work engaging and even life-changing. I especially loved sharing the spirit of genuine inquiry and discovery—as well as my love of jokes good and bad—and oh, of puns. I also enjoyed interacting with my department colleagues and pursuing (and being supported in pursuing) my research and writing. Few know just how wonderful it is to be among brilliant, dedicated, and generous colleagues.
I loved all that my students brought in terms of their life experiences, off-the-cuff responses, hunches, laughter, and more.
Kurt Fosso teaching at L&C in 1996. Photo credit unknown.What changed the most during your time at the College? What remained constant?
What a different College it was in 1995. No Watzek extension, no Miller building, no Fields, no Howard building! People parked INSIDE campus, right there behind what would become Miller’s spot. More trees, fewer buildings—and portables where Howard stands. So many different faces, too. I mean, I was one of the new kids! As for what has remained constant? The kinds of wonderful students the College attracts. And the great faculty, now as then. Mt. Hood over the flag pole is as glorious as ever.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I was a member of Lewis & Clark’s famed/notorious/forgotten faculty band (name withheld), with several illustrious L&C faculty (Stephen Weeks, Ben Westervelt, and Alan Cole), all since retired. We played faculty functions as well as gigs off campus. One night, our then-new Dean, Julio de Paula, sat in on drums for “I Saw Her Standing There.” On another night, I played some killer Wah Wah pedal on a funky rendition of “Ode to Billie Joe.” Oh such times—and with Isabelle DeMarte dancing. A few of us even played a Convocation (we had them then) with a college-blues song. I learned to play at being a musician here.
What is your favorite place on campus?
I love the fourth floor of Miller. And who doesn’t love the gorgeous gorge?
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud to have taught for 30 years at such a magnificent college, and to such wonderful generations of students. I’m also proud of my research. I was there near the inception of Animal Studies, and managed to stir up a thing or two even in classical studies. And I pleased more than a few folks by playing music—and by a wee bit of humor, too. At least I hope so. I’m proud to have known the faculty and students I have. To quote John Lennon: “In my life, I’ve loved them all.”
What’s next for you?
I have a book to write, on Blake and biodiversity, and an article to finish on Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Raven” (the other poem with that title). I will live mostly in the UK, and drink in what life and love provide. I plan to drink a good amount of very good wine, too! I will walk and read and breathe deep, and play guitar and sing and be a dedicated 21st-century Romantic. Occasionally, I may even be spotted back at L&C, and I also hope to liaise our College’s brand new MA opportunity with Queen Mary University of London.
Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell steps into her role as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences this week. She will be supported by a leadership team consisting of continuing Director of Operations and Finance Scott Feickert, alongside newly appointed Associate Deans Rachel Cole and Rebecca Lingafelter. Together, this team will guide the college into the 2026–27 academic year with a shared focus on collaborative innovation, faculty support, and curricular excellence.
The L&C Office Supply Swap is a brand-new listserv designed to help employees trade unwanted office supplies and furniture. Instead of buying new or letting good items go to waste, this community connects you with colleagues to save department budgets, clear out workspace clutter, and promote campus sustainability.
A new show from Print Arts Northwest, Portland’s printmaking guild, presents the collaborative work of twenty-six printmakers and twenty-six poets. Naturally Northwest will be on display through much of September.
