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Dr. Janelle Wilson, professor of sociology, is the author of Nostalgia: Sanctuary of Meaning (Bucknell University Press, 2005). Her primary topics of study include collective memory, generations, and nostalgia.
What attracted you to teach at UMD? What were you doing before you came here?
I came to UMD directly following the completion of my Ph.D. at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo (21 years ago!). When I interviewed at UMD in February 1995, I felt like UMD was a good fit. I was very pleased when the Assistant Professor of Sociology position, for which I had interviewed, was offered to me. I had envisioned wanting to teach at a place that was primarily dedicated to undergraduate education because my own undergraduate experience (at Saginaw Valley State University) was that way and I had a fantastic student experience there.
You’ve researched, taught, and wrote about the sociology of nostalgia, which I find intriguing, can you share what led you to this area of interest? What do you find fascinating about the sociology of nostalgia?
Initially, I did not set out to study nostalgia per se. My doctoral dissertation was a study of individuals’ recollections of the 1950s. I had taken a graduate course in the History Department at Western Michigan University taught by Lewis Carlson that was focused on popular culture and, in particular, popular culture from the 1950s. As a person who had grown up watching the sitcom Happy Days (in the 1970s) and with parents who themselves graduated from high school in the 1950s, I had a great deal of interest in this time period.
Prior to my having taken this particular course, I was a research assistant for Professor Jerry Markle in the Sociology Department, who was working on a book about the Holocaust (Meditations of a Holocaust Traveler). In the process of retrieving articles for him, I became acquainted with the concept of “collective memory,” which I found interesting.
In essence, my doctoral dissertation put these two key experiences together: I interviewed 33 individuals who had come of age in the 1950s in the United States. The guiding concepts in my study were collective memory and collected memories. Not surprisingly, many of my research participants shared fond memories of this time period – memories that in many ways matched the romanticized and mythologized “collective memory” of that time as presented through much of our popular culture. Among the majority of my white participants, a “Happy Days” version of the 1950s seemed to predominate, whereas among my African-American informants a different picture was described. Herein lies the importance of “collected memories” – that is, individualized memories that may not fit with the collective memory.
Yet, even with the painful memories of segregation and both overt and covert racism, my African-American participants also expressed nostalgia for that time period. Their nostalgia was focused primarily on institutions that they recall being intact and influential, such as family, church, and community. Studying nostalgia, then, was a direct outgrowth of this study. I find nostalgia fascinating as a topic of study because it is not easily “operationalized” or “measured.” It escapes simple categorization. It encompasses cognition, emotion, and behavior. It can be both private and collective. Originally, nostalgia was a diagnosable disease (literally meaning, “homesickness”).
Reflecting on your career trajectory, what has been the most memorable and/or meaningful moment you have experienced at UMD?
I treasure the meaningful moments that I’ve experienced in the classroom when I feel like my students genuinely understand and appreciate the value of the sociological perspective. This is sometimes evidenced by comments students make in class, or in students’ written responses to essay questions, or in the papers they write. Whether the students in my classes are Sociology Majors or not, I want them to be able to use their “sociological imagination” and to see how approaching phenomena sociologically expands our viewpoint and, I would argue, gives us a more holistic understanding.
Over the years, I have had particular classes that have been characterized by a lot of rapport and have truly felt like a “community.” In such classes, everyone is engaged with the subject matter, discussion flows effortlessly, and respectful debate occurs. In such classes, when the semester comes to a close the students sometimes talk about organizing a reunion for the class!
Other memorable moments have occurred in one-on-one advising sessions, both with my own advisees but also with a larger population of students during the six years I served as department head. These are often moments when the student recognizes his or her agency, proceeds with a plan for how best to make progress toward the degree, and also understands perhaps the “bigger” life lesson(s) that may have come from particular challenges or speed bumps encountered.
Going back some years (to the late ‘90s) when I was the coordinator of the Graduate Teaching Assistantship Training and Orientation Program, the closing ceremony at the end of the training, during which we would hand out certificates to the participating GTAs, was always a highly meaningful moment. A number of these new GTAs were international students who, in many cases, had only been in the U.S. for a few days prior to the start of the 4-day training and orientation program. Their courage and ambition were inspiring; it was very rewarding to see their smiling faces at the closing ceremony, clutching their certificates with humble pride and a sense of accomplishment.
What is most rewarding about your work? What makes it worthwhile?
The most rewarding thing about my work is connecting with students – fostering their learning, growth, and development. With respect to research, I employ qualitative methods which, in my view and in my experience, is not only rewarding, but an honor. Most often, I am interviewing individuals who are gracious enough to take the time to share with me whatever it is I wish to learn about them or their experiences. It is also rewarding when complete strangers contact me to ask me about my work and get my input on their current projects. This has happened a lot with the nostalgia work, and the queries most often come from doctoral students and professors in Europe.
Is there any advice you would give to a person who is starting out in your chosen career?
I would advise someone starting out in this career to seek out a mentor who can provide guidance and direction. While it is important (and feels natural) to feed our passion – that is, our chosen discipline and our particular research project(s) – I would also advise one to strive for balance. We are better professors, writers, colleagues, etc. when we recognize the need for balance. We’re also just more interesting people when we’re not one-dimensional.
What’s next for you in your work? What are you looking forward to?
While I seem to be most defined by my work on nostalgia, I am eager to explore some other topics. As they say: “nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.” :)
My current efforts are directed toward the study of marginality, which I find interesting for a number of reasons, including the dual psychological and structural dimensions of the experience of marginality.
In addition, I have been doing collaborative work with colleagues in the School of Medicine on mentoring. Working with Amy Prunuske (in Biomedical Sciences), Melissa Walls (in Behavioral Sciences), and Benjamin Clarke (in Biomedical Sciences), our team is gaining insight into the experiences of both mentors and mentees in the Bridges and Pathways Mentorship programs. We had an article come out in 2013 and another article is in the works.
Another collaborative project with which I am involved is with Carmen Latterell in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics. We are exploring individuals’ development of mathematical identity.
Tell me something about yourself that people might not readily know.
I’ve always wanted to be a fiction writer – in particular, a writer of children’s books.
Is there anything you would like to add that we didn’t touch on?
When I think about “memorable moments,” a number of things actually come to mind – for example, having former students stop by or connect via email to tell me what they are doing and how they are using what they learned/gained in their Sociology classes is very rewarding. I’ve also won teaching and advising awards over the years that are very meaningful to me.
These questions invite reflection, and something that comes to mind for me is how fortunate I was when I came to UMD in 1995. My department head was Bob Franz, a man who was highly respected across campus. He was fair, steady, and wise. We unfortunately lost Bob to cancer in December of 2000. Another mentor of mine was Denny Brissett in the Behavioral Sciences Dept. in the School of Medicine. We shared common interests and approaches and planned to work on some research projects together. Sadly, Denny passed away one year after I arrived on campus. Like Bob, he had cancer. Both of these individuals were important and influential to me and I’m fortunate that they were there at the start of my career at UMD.
Maybe this is an “aside,” but in my first few years at UMD, I joined a group of faculty and staff who played basketball at noon every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. As I was new to UMD, this was a great way to meet people from across campus, and I love basketball so it was fun (and good exercise). It was often the case that I would end up guarding my dean, Harry Hellenbrand. I’d like to say that I let him score off me because I was untenured and I was showing respect and deference, but the truth is that when he scored off me it was simply because he beat me to the basket. Eventually I had to give up this fun practice, as I suffer from migraines and was finding that playing noon ball triggered a migraine later in the day.