Meet the Professor: John Harris!

Let's get to know John Harris!

07 October 2016

Let's get to know John Harris!

Where is your favourite place on campus?

The Atrium (with the Living Wall), a.k.a. the Paris Cafe.

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

I'd be an illustrator (most likely for kid's books).

Where did you grow up?

Winnipeg

Where did you get your BA, MA, Phd?

BA & MA: University of Manitoba; PhD: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Tuscany, or San Diego; really, anywhere with a Mediterranean climate.

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

The give-and-take of a good discussion.

What is your favourite book?

David Lodge's Small World

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

Ride a bike.

When did you know you wanted to study Classics?

After getting hooked English poetry and realizing they stole shamelessly from the Greeks and Romans!

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

Socrates; Samuel Johnson; David Hume; Oscar Wilde.

What is your favourite family tradition?

Trimming the Christmas tree.

Do you collect anything?

Books (My prize piece: a 1st edition of Max Beerbohm's Zuleika Dobson)

What was your first job?

Drove a forklift and 'hand-bombed' concrete paving stones (moved by hand with no mechanical assistance). Hey, it paid for my undergrad degree!

Thank you, John!