by Karen Bullock and Aldona Bird
After completing his B.A. in International Studies, the cattle rancher’s son from Wyoming, Professor J. Dwight Hines, wandered around Europe and ended up in
Bratislava, Slovakia as its denizens celebrated their independence from Czechoslovakia.
While that historic moment affected him, on his return to the states he decided to pursue a masters degree in geography, until he was inadvertently moved into an anthropology program at Louisiana State University.
It turned out to be a life changing experience as that discipline would be what he’d pursue until he earned a Ph.D. in and a job teaching at Point Park University.
“I’ve never felt out of place with anthropology,” said Dr. Hines.
Dr. Hines grew up in Wyoming and remained in his home state while he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies before traveling to Europe. A large, antique map of Montana hangs in his office wall, reflecting his love of geography, and his anthropological work in the American West on gentrification.
“Wyoming is right south of Montana so I spent a lot of time in Montana growing up, but I did my research there…” says Dr. Hines. “I love the map because of the color scheme…I love the fact that it speaks about an older era before other technologies came in…I did my research here in this down called Livingston just north of Yellowstone National Park, so it reminds me of where I come from and where I like to be in the summer time…I do like maps.”
Still a bit of an aspiring geographer, Dr, Hines brings his wide travel experience…from the American Far West to southern Spain, and his intellectual curiosity and academic rigor to students in his diverse classes.
Dr. Hines liked living in Europe so much, that as he traveled around the continent he found himself working in odd jobs, like construction and flipping burgers. After living most his life on a sheep farm in Wyoming, he found places like Italy, France, and Portugal in cosmopolitan Europe to be quite an eye-opening experience. Spending most of his life in rural Wyoming, being thrust into a foreign city life-style was not exactly easy, but an experience he will never forget.
“That is the kind of experience that can only enhance your world,” he said.
He traveled to a number of countries ranging from Italy to Eastern European countries like Slovakia. His favorite place, not only in Europe, but in the entire world he says, was southern Spain, where he spent nearly half of his time in Europe. His experiences in Spain he says fed into his research and teaching. He spent time looking at issues of colonization in Spain.
When he returned from his trip to Europe he is got his first teaching experience as a substitute teacher back home at Wyoming to earn money to travel around the country seeking a profession or a place to earn a Master’s degree. He settled on Louisiana State University to study geography but was shuffled quickly in an anthropology program. After he got his Master’s degree in anthropology from Louisiana State University he earned a Ph.D at University of California Santa Barbara while acquiring more teaching experience during the seven years of graduate work there.
Dr. Hines was intrigued by the unique and growth oriented global cultural studies program that Point Park offered and applied for a teaching position within the program.
“We’ve got people from different traditions coming together and really sharing a lot of the same perspectives,” said Dr. Hines.
Since arriving at Point Park Dr. Hines has built up and expanded the number and variety of courses he teaches including Into to Global Cultural Studies,which looks at human cultural patterns across the globe,Modern World Systems, a study how ancient world systems influenced the world today, Soccer in Global Perspectives, which looks at soccer from an anthropological standpoint, and Spanish Culture, partly based on the experiences he had while in Spain. He finds it satisfying that the program at Point Park allows him to develop courses, such as the soccer course, that are not taught in a majority of places.
When Dr. Hines was in college his father advised him to go to all the talks and presentations and listen to the ideas bouncing around from people coming in from outside the area. His father admonished him that he would not have access to that stuff for the rest of his life. At Point Park, Dr, Hines emphasizes that he encourages students to think globally, and to open up to new knowledge, a bit like his father advised him to do.
Miguel Alvarez, a sophomore political science major, seems to think he is succeeding in this aim. Alvarez enjoys the two classes he takes from Dr. Hines because “He introduced me to a whole other way of looking at things.”
Alvarez takes Spanish Culture and Modern World Systems from Dr. Hines. He enjoys the discussion in both classes, especially Modern World systems, because it relates to his major and covers topics that he has thought about but never fully understood, such as how world systems in the past have helped to create the world system that is in place now. He’s noticed similarities between himself and Dr. Hines including a love of soccer and knowledge of the Spanish language.
A unique class that Dr. Hines has developed and is teaching at Point Park is Soccer in Global Perspectives. Although Dr. Hines never played soccer, his love of soccer has parlayed into looking at the sport from an anthropological view. He uses this global sport, something usually dismissed as a superficial game, as a way to look at gender inequalities and issues of racism. He uses distinct methods to teach this course, such as spending time on popular movies like Bend it like Beckham to look at issues related to ethnicities, like South Asians in England, and issue related to gender. One thing he points out in the movie is how women are portrayed, and how they are not commonly found playing the game of soccer.
“It’s a good opportunity to be serious but not the be serious simultaneously…and that’s important in classes,” said Dr. Hines.
Dr. Hines plans to work with his colleagues in the department to expand the Global Studies program. For example, they hope to organize travel and study abroad, and he would like to take his students to Spain to experience the Spanish culture that he teaches about. Dr Hines would like to see more students picking up a global cultural studies major because the opportunities and experience that come with taking the global cultural studies classes is something that students cannot find in many other places.
In the meantime, Dr, Hines is enjoying life in the Pittsburgh area. He has enjoyed fishing and cross country skiing, and this summer hopes to establish himself as a white water rafting guide. He is also preparing several articles for publication.
Katie Over, a senior psychology major, enjoyed the classes she took from Dr. Hines because he went into the subjects about Spanish culture, including different political parties in Spain, in-depth, was passionate about the topics, and made her question standard knowledge. Over said, “He is very intense and intimidating,” but she also thinks Dr. Hines is a smart, cultured man, and has enjoyed taking his classes.
No comments:
Post a Comment