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AROUND THE QUADS
5 Minutes With … Jenny Davidson
Jenny Davidson, assistant professor of English and comparative
literature, has been teaching at Columbia since 1999. Born in London
and raised in Philadelphia, Davidson earned her B.A. at Harvard-Radcliffe
and Ph.D. at Yale. CCT caught up with her before she began
her spring Jane Austen seminar to find out more.
Q: Where do you live?
A: 116th and Riverside, in faculty housing.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: A cat, Blackie.
Q: What is the last book you read?
A: The new Terri Pratchett novel, Going Postal,
was my holiday read. And everyone should read Mutants: On Genetic
Variety and the Human Body.
Q: What did you do during your sabbatical last year?
A: I finished a new book, Breeding: Nature and
Nurture Before Biology. It starts with A Winter’s Tale and
broadens into an inquiry of upbringing and manners in 17th- and
18th-century British culture, and to some extent French culture.
Q: What’s new in the English department?
A: We’re developing the master’s colloquium,
tinkering with the existing lecture format. We wanted to find a
way to introduce students to the faculty right away, not just those
teaching this semester. We choose a topic and three professors discuss
it, followed by question and answer. We serve pizza, so it’s
a popular event.
Q: You teach undergraduates students, as well. What’s
new in the department for them?
A: This is the third year for the Columbia
Journal of Literary Criticism, a wholly undergraduate-run journal.
They’ve had great stuff; there are many students working on
it, and I’m really excited about it.
Q: What is your favorite class to teach at CC?
A: That’s a tough one … “Restoration
and 18th Century Drama.” Teaching plays is fun because the
students have lively discussion. Students are shocked at how modern
the plays are.
Q: Where is your favorite place to have lunch near CC?
A: Tomo — I’m a regular.
Q: Coffee or tea?
A: Both — the more caffeine the better!
Q: What is your favorite place in the world?
A: The library.
Q: If you were not teaching at Columbia, what would you
most likely be doing?
A: I expect I would be an unemployed novelist.
Or underemployed. I’ve just written a new novel, Dynamite
No. 1, which I’m very excited about, but it wouldn’t
pay the rent.
Interview and photo:
Laura Butchy ’04 SOA
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