Sofia
St. John had the opportunity to interview Ashley Nguyen, her fellow graduate
assistant and a student of Dr. Mary Galbraith in 2018. We spoke about her
experience working with Dr. Galbraith in her undergraduate class.
Image: screen grab: My Neighbor Totoro, Hayao Miyazaki from Dr.
Galbraith’s English 501: Fantasy for Children syllabus
What class did you take with Dr. Galbraith,
and when?
I took English 501:
Literature for Children in the fall of 2018, and the theme was “fantasy and the
touch of the real.” It was my first children’s literature class and I chose it
to be my specialization course in preparation for the spring honors program. Of
course, I was very excited! What was your favorite part about being in class
with Dr. Galbraith? Dr. Galbraith was my introduction to a field I hadn’t even
heard of before. It was fascinating to learn from someone who had excelled in
the field for so long and still found new ways to talk and write about what she
loves. This course was the first time I had taken a class in which I fell in
love with the readings and knew I wanted to dig deeper – to read, discuss, and
write more about children’s literature.
What
was your biggest takeaway from the class? How did she impact your studies going
forward as a literature scholar?
Dr. Galbraith emphasized
authors’ backgrounds, claiming that their childhood experiences profoundly
influenced the literature they would go on to create. We drew parallels between
the authors’ life events and the events that their characters undergo. This
concept has come to fruition in my own research a year later, as I am currently
preparing for a ChLA panel on #ownvoices. Specifically, I am interested in how
Asian American authors’ experiences as descendants of refugees influence their
own writing, particularly in the creation of characters born in the United
States.
How
do your research interests overlap with Dr. Galbraith’s, if they do? If not,
did you find any new research interests in her class?
Dr. Galbraith didn’t
share much of her research interests, but I remember her telling us towards the
end of the semester that she was writing (if I recall correctly) a definition
for a dictionary. The term she was researching was “deixis.” I remember being
floored by the complexity of her research, which she had never flouted
throughout the semester. It was a moment when I realized the infinite
possibility for the academic study of literature, which was formative for me as
someone who was applying to a master’s program more out of necessity than
passion for literature. I got my first look at the fun (and torture) of the
life of a scholar, which I will develop into throughout my own studies as a
graduate student.
I hadn’t had a specific
research interest in mind, but her class provided an extensive survey of the
different forms that children’s literature takes, including classics, novels,
picture books, and animated movies. I was compelled by our early look at how
fairy tales adapt over time, and this influenced the honors thesis I wrote in
the following semester.
Does
she have any unique teaching styles or aspects of her class which differ from
other classes you have taken?
Professor Galbraith was
very engaging and valued the input of her students, many of whom were not
English majors. Her discussion questions and written assignments challenged us
to think critically about books that are often relegated to the margins, as
well as stories we’ve heard but never analyzed before. English 501 was notable because its texts explored a lot of
difficult themes such as war trauma, adult condescension towards children, and
parental abandonment.
Do
you have a notable memory from class or from working with Dr. Galbraith?
The most heartwarming
event I can recall occurred in the middle of the summer after I had taken her
class. I had just graduated and was accepted to the graduate program, which I
had asked her to write a letter of recommendation for. In July, I received an
email from her which stated very simply:
Dear
Ashley,
Congratulations
on making the Dean's List-- that's a significant accomplishment!
Your
proud professor,
Mary
Galbraith
This email, to me, really
sums up the kind of instructor Dr. Galbraith is. She remembered me from two
semesters ago and went out of her way to send me an email and encourage me,
whose accomplishments are incomparable to her numerous publications and
international conference presentations. She is well-beloved to all who know her
because she genuinely cares about others. SDSU is very fortunate to have a
lecturer with such intellectual and emotional generosity.
Thank
you so much to Ashley for helping us get to know Dr. Galbraith a little more!
This
is part two of a series of blog
posts in preparation for Dr. Mary Galbraith’s talk, "The Deictic Imaginary: Literature as Creation," to be held in LL430 on Wednesday,
October 30th from 4:00-5:00PM. Please keep an eye out for part three to
come out in a few weeks!
-SS
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