English Department: Publishing Is Just a Subgenre | Interview with Joseph Fichtelberg

For this series I asked questions to three professors in the English department. The professors I chose were Joseph Fichtelberg, former head of the department, Karyn Valerius, current head of the department, and Kelly McMasters, head of the publishing department. These three professors gave me insight on the English and publishing departments as well as why our program has been, and still is, very important. Publishing is a part of literature that is sometimes overlooked. People only look at the final product without thinking of the process behind it.

Josie Racette: Good morning, Professor Fichtelberg. Thank you again for meeting with me today. The first question I have for you is why do you think Windmill is a good opportunity for students?

Joseph Fichtelberg: I was chair of the department many years ago when English students and publishing studies students were looking for internships. I would tell them to look online, and if they had the drive, [the internships] would be available for them. Now, under the superb guidance of Professor McMasters, we have sort of an in-house internship that benefits all our publishing students.

JR: Yes, and as one of those publishing students, I am very grateful for this opportunity.

So, out of the classes you’re teaching this semester, how many of your students are in the publishing department?

JF: I really don’t know. I never check because most of the classes I teach are distribution classes, so [the classes are] options for all majors. I really don’t want to prejudice my own thinking about any student by identifying the individual as [an English] major or non [English] major. I want to be fair to everybody. I understand that certain people write well and certain people are not as capable, but that’s fine. It’s a distribution course.

JR: That’s interesting because Professor Valerius said that in the classes she’s teaching, which aren’t even in the English department, there are a couple publishing students.

JF: I’m sure there are because, right now, I believe publishing is the most numerous or next to the most numerous concentration that we have.

JR: Why do you think the publishing department is so important?

JF: Well, there’s history attached. It started probably 35-40 years ago by a colleague we had, Arthur Gregor, who was a poet who also had a hand in publishing in New York. They came up with this concentration, and when he was succeeded by [Alexander Burke] ... he had all this breadth of experience, and he sort of bumped up the publishing program. After he retired, we kind of bumped around for a few years trying to find another specialist, and we were extraordinarily lucky to get Professor McMasters. I always thought that publishing was an extremely important addition to our program. I was always very proud of it, when I was head of the department anyways. I thought it was an asset to the department and to the university.

JR: Do you think students choose publishing because of the city?

JF: I think students choose publishing because, if they’re interested in English, [they can] immediately get a job when they come out because they were trained for it [in school]. They can immediately find a job because they have skills that are superior to general applicants in the industry. Publishing has changed now. The positions are a little less numerous as they used to be.

JR: I also know that there are a lot of English/publishing internships in the city, which I am very excited about.

What’s some advice you’d give to an incoming English student at Hofstra?

JF: Well, I see them all the time. I am one of the advisors that meets with all the families that come visit Hofstra. It’s not an easy sell because Humanities departments across the country have shrunk in favor of STEM departments because the jobs are more plentiful. I have to make the appeal in different ways, and the appeal is simple: if you’re passionate about English, you would be here, and you wouldn’t be thinking about anything else. I asked one of my colleagues when I was head of the department to go to one of the meetings in the spring, and he made the appeal very simple. You get one chance to do what you want, to explore your creative ideals, and it’s right now.

JR: Thank you for taking your time to talk to me this morning.