Meet the Professor! Dominik Wujastyk

Meet our newest import from across the pond: Dominik Wujastyk!

13 April 2016

Meet our newest import from across the pond: Dominik Wujastyk, Professor and Singhmar Chair in Ancient Indian Society and Polity, 500 BCE - 500 CE.

Where is your favourite place on campus?

Leva Cafe. Does it count as being on campus? I'm also pretty happy in my office :-)

If you were not an academic, what do you think you would be doing?

Jazz musician, perhaps. Or a scuba diving instructor.​ Or both. Can I choose millionaire playboy?

Where did you grow up?

How long have you got? I was born in London, but my family moved around a lot, because my father enjoyed adventurous flying jobs. So we lived in Lisbon, Funchal, Khartoum (where I attended Comboni College for three years), Entebbe​ (Lake Victoria School for a year), and Malta (Royal Navy School for six years), with spells in London.

Where did you get your BA, MA, Phd?

After schooling in Malta, I went back to the UK and did a BSc in Physics at Imperial College, London. Then I went to Brasenose College, Oxford, and did a BA and DPhil in Oriental Studies. I got the Oxford MA for £5.​

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

That's such a hard question. I do love Malta, ​and could imagine living there again for extended period. But only if I could travel to the UK regularly for family, friends and for the libraries. And India. And I have to say that Canada and Edmonton are seriously growing on me. Maybe I'll fetch up here in the long run.

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

That moment when you see a student "get it." ​ Or when you get back a stunningly good essay, and you realize that the student really has been listening and also exploring for themselves.

What is your favourite book?

I don't think I have a single favourite. From my childhood, Tolkien and Lewis of course, and The Phantom Tollbooth. ​Recently, perhaps Lawrence Venuti's The Translator's Invisibility and Daniel Moerman's Meaning, Medicine and the "Placebo Effect". These are all books that I continue to think about years after reading them.

Would you rather ride a bike, ride a horse, or drive a car?

Ride a bike. But it depends how far we're talking about.​

When did you know you wanted to study History?

I had a moment of revelation when I was about 19, while listening to a lecture about the history of the Sanskrit philosophy of language. I knew that I had to learn the Sanskrit language and find out more about the intellectual history of India.

If you could share a meal with any 4 individuals, living or dead, who would they be? (not your family)

Wow, these questions are hard! I mean, it would be fascinating to dine with Archimedes or Plato or Pāṇini or Śaṅkara. But then again, they wouldn't know whether Android Marshmallow is a real improvement on Lollipop, whether the NSA will let WhatsApp get away with end-to-end encryption, or have an opinion on whether Kind of Blue or Sgt. Pepper is the greatest album of all time. In the end, I think I would like to share a meal with my contemporary best friends.

What is your favourite family tradition?

Approaching life with good humour.

Do you collect anything?

"No," he said, not meeting my eye. I could tell he was lying, because of the groaning bookshelves just behind him. But I didn't want to embarrass him further, so I dropped the subject.

What was your first job?

Brickie on a building site in Dulwich, then stacking shelves in a pharmaceutical warehouse, and then assistant to the Curator of Sanskrit Books at the (old) British Museum Library.​

Thank you, Dominik! We look forward to your future jazz performances!