Adjunct professor of Italian, Laurie Detenbeck is currently in her first semester of teaching at Fredonia.
Photo courtesy of Melissa Rechin / Photo Editor .
CARL LAM
Staff Writer
Graduation is around the corner for many and perhaps there are some students that are preparing to go back and study something they didn’t the first time around. There’s nothing wrong with that — who could argue against someone acquiring more knowledge? Many of the adjunct professors have done what some are considering to do all over again.
Laurie Detenbeck is an adjunct professor of Italian in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, who is currently in her first semester teaching at SUNY Fredonia. The same spacious office was the setting for an interview late last year with adjunct professor of French, Cynthia Jones. The similarity between Jones and Detenbeck is that they both have theatrical backgrounds.
“I actually did my undergraduate degree in theater at the University of Toronto and I was a stage manager,” Detenbeck said. “After I graduated, I worked for a while and decided that I needed to go back to school. So I decided to study Italian at the University of Toronto and did my master’s and part of my Ph.D.”
Detenbeck’s interest in Italian came as a result of her commitment to further her education and from one book in particular.
“I took a course in Chaucer and I was just doing it for something to do. I was reading Dante for the sources and I wanted to read Dante in Italian. So I went and I took a class in Italian. I was working full-time and I wanted to take a class that didn’t require me to write papers,” Detenbeck said.
At the time, the University of Toronto offered summer classes in Siena, Italy; for Detenbeck, this was something she wanted to pursue.
“I took a leave of absence from work and I went to Siena for the summer. I never looked back and I fell in love,” Detenbeck said. “I wanted to pursue my study of the Italian language and literature, so I went to graduate school.”
Studying in Italy was an experience that she believes students should take advantage of, if they have the means to do so.
“Absolutely, I think it’s the best way. If you’re really serious about learning a language, there’s nothing like it. There are several really fine programs with homestays in Italy, where the student can stay with a family,” she said.
For Detenbeck, having two passions that she enjoys doesn’t mean she has to put either one on hold. Instead, she’s working with Christina Rausa, adjunct professor of theater, on a project all over Western New York.
“I miss it enough to do it. I’m actually stage-managing a production of “The Belle of Amherst,” she said. “[Rausa] was approached by Jamestown Community College to revive it and she asked me to be her stage manager.”
Detenbeck has taught at major universities like the Peabody Conservatory, Towson University and Siena College. However, she sees one difference here that she didn’t see elsewhere and credits her colleague, Dr. Chiara De Santi.
“It’s such an enthusiastic department to be working in. People really seem to love what they’re doing and I just like teaching Italian. I think that Fredonia is committed to the languages and that’s nice because not everywhere is,” she said.
As a stage manager, being a professor was never really in the original plan, but that all changed when she got to graduate school.
“I never fancied myself a teacher. I think I just really liked Italian so much. When I was a graduate student, we all taught,” Detenbeck said. “So when I was a master’s student, I had a beginning Italian class and I really liked it. It’s theater — standing up in front of a bunch of kids and teaching and I really liked it.”
De Santi, a lecturer of Italian in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, had been running the Italian studies minor by herself for seven semesters. With the addition of Detenbeck, they are able to provide more courses for students that have an interest in the language.
“From a curricular point of view, we are working beautifully together, making sure that the students of Elementary Italian I and II have the same learning experience across different sections of Italian and different instructors,” De Santi said.
As a single-professor department, De Santi let some past traditions fall off the radar. However, she has been able to revitalize some of those former activities.
“Starting this semester, we have been able to resume the Italian Table, namely informal meetings [we have] usually over lunch time where one speaks Italian and talk about the culture of Italy,” she said.
Detenbeck is also now the liaison with the Chautauqua Italian-American Organization allowing De Santi the ability to expand curriculum and co-curricular activities.
“With a two-professor program, we hope to expand even more our offering of courses and co-curricular activities and to become an even more stable and solid program at SUNY Fredonia,” De Santi said.
The advice Detenbeck would offer is for people to not have such a narrow focus and see what else is out there.
“In this economic climate, go and take what you’ve learned here and see how they can use it to give back to world and society,” she said. “We don’t train people for jobs here; we train them for life.”