Fantasy, dragons and romance.
While these cliches of the Medieval Era are often overlooked by the untrained eye, Dr. Will Roudabush has devoted much of his life — a large portion of his academic research, in fact — to studying literary invention in the Renaissance.
He’s written articles on Shakespeare, taught English at multiple universities and continues to indulge himself in reading historical fiction.
Now, he’s become a regular on school campus, as a long-term English substitute.
Roudabush’s interest in teaching English did not fully develop until late into college years. In fact, for a while his interests spanned a variety of disciplines.
“I was definitely interested in business and psychology,” Roudabush said. “I studied widely, took different classes and then decided what I wanted to major in.”
High school, in particular, was when English first began to intrigue him; one of Roudabush’s first mentors in the subject was his English teacher during sophomore year.
“I can remember reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and that was the first book where I pored over every word,” Roudabush said. “That (experience) was really formative, and so I was drawn to English.”
Roudabush first began teaching as a graduate student at the University of Alabama following his graduation from Rhodes College in Memphis.
However, pursuing graduate school education in the form of a master’s degree and later a doctorate was not his original goal.
“I thought that I would apply to teach directly out of college,” Roudabush said. “But when I had the opportunity to go to graduate school, I decided I wanted to attend to become a better teacher and be more knowledgeable.”
After completing his master’s program in Alabama, Roudabush decided to pursue a PhD at Southern Methodist University (SMU). His primary focus was on the Renaissance works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
“I was always inclined toward history, fantasy and romance, but it was one of the professors I had at Rhodes College who helped me go from being just a student to someone who actually had meaningful and specific things to say.” Roudabush said. “And so I took classes with him for four semesters and saw a remarkable improvement in my writing, my thinking and my reading.”
He emphasizes the importance of having a supportive community throughout his journey from student to educator.
“I had many excellent mentors at Rhodes who helped me grow as a person, as a reader and a writer,” Roudabush said. “They helped me find my voice and gain confidence in my own ideas and writing.”
Roudabush would stay at SMU for more than eight years, teaching courses ranging from Introduction to Drama to Surveys of British Literature before coming here, where he will continue to work in the future, as a long-term substitute for English instructor Cameron Hillier. He believes that the divide between teaching high schoolers and teaching college students is surprisingly narrow.
“I’ve taught a lot of first-year college students, and so age-wise there’s not a huge difference,” Roudabush said. “I really love getting to sit around the Harkness table with the seniors in my class. Everyone’s engaged and eager to learn, and it’s a collaborative environment.”
Senior Andrew Xuan, a member of Hillier’s Dystopian Literature class, is one of the students fortunate enough to have Roudabush as a substitute teacher. Xuan has so far has had a positive experience with Roudabush.
“I will say that most English classes are pretty discussion-based and that Dr. Roudabush is no different,” Xuan said. “It’s what you would expect out of a good English class.”
At SMU, Roudabush did his best to make classes more collaborative.
However, there were always limitations imposed on the physical space and the classroom environment.
“One of the great advantages of the Harkness table is that it disperses some authority in the classroom,” Roudabush said. “People are able to work out ideas on their own, and I try to build on that as much as I can.”
Xuan points out that this mindset is reflected in the way that Roudabush moderates classroom discourse.
“The biggest difference between Dr. Roudabush and Mr. Hillier is that Dr. Roudabush takes more of a backseat role during discussions,” Xuan said. “He doesn’t interject with his own thoughts as much.”
Regardless, reading a text in class without extra activity can often be challenging or monotonous for students; to try and help the class feel his own enthusiasm, Roudabush implements a slow-reading strategy where students reenact scenes and pay extra attention to specific language.
“We’re reading Shakespeare’s Othello right now,” Roudabush said. “It’s great to go through it slowly. Students read a scene aloud and perform it. If you just read it and then move on, you miss so much, so I’ve enjoyed reading Othello with the juniors. In the Dystopian Literature class, we’re reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and it’s just such a thought-provoking novel about what we value, what we care about and where we are now.”
During his ongoing time as substitute, Roudabush finds the overall school culture quite positive and welcoming, being most impressed with the numerous activities and outlets for learning.
“This is a beautiful and transformative place,” Roudabush said. “That’s what education is about. It’s really cool that these bonds are so strong and that these opportunities are here.”