By Raymond Jackson
Joseph Campbell, a Casper College English professor, said he wears two different hats while teaching English: composition and interpretation. Composition means teaching standard English grammar while focusing on the meaning of a particular novel with interpretation. Each day, he said he takes segments one at a time while going through classes. He spends one day of class on grammar, then interpretation in another class, then finally conferences with staff. Campbell is someone who is dedicated to his work and loves his position at CC. In addition, he has written stories, and has strong opinions about the importance of literature.
“He has a great way of being able to break things down and make analogies and comparisons so that you can understand things. And the other part of his teaching is the love he has of writing and rhetoric and composition and literature, it’s all through him,” said a fellow English instructor and close friend of Campbell, Jill Hughes. She sees Campbell as an academic who works hard for what he does.
Campbell is a Mobile, Ala. native and was raised in Mesa, Ariz. He attended the University of South Alabama and pursued his doctorate in English studies at Illinois State University from 1997-2005. He moved to the English Department at CC in 2010 where he has taught for 15 years since. During his journey, he said he met various people in the English department who influenced who he is as an instructor, such as Hughes.
“I wanted to get to the sort of place that was like where I had grown up. A lot of my life was in Mobile, Alabama, but I grew up in Mesa, Arizona. So I wanted to get back to some place that was somewhat southwestern, as close as I could get.” said Campbell. When he landed on Casper College, he explained, “They were on my radar, and then when I came here and met the people, I thought, ‘this is exactly where to be.’”
Since childhood, Campbell said he fell in love with literature and reading, citing his mother and favorite English instructor from childhood as his primary influences. He enjoys science fiction, inspired by Star Trek novels and its extended universe. He had published several books in his time in both science fiction and transgressive fiction, such as The Order and the Other. They all delighted the heart of his closest friend Hughes.
“The genres he’s interested in aren’t genres I usually read. And so it’s always quite interesting to me to read his stories because it’s going to open up new ideas for me. After all, I don’t usually read science fiction,” said Hughes.
Though she doesn’t read transgressive fiction, it gives more to look into Campbell’s thinking process.
Hughes said, “It’s fun to see something that a friend, somebody that you’re really good friends with, has created and to hear about it when they’re writing it.”
Campbell reflected on his tenure since 2010. He said it’s special to see the excitement of students when they click with a subject and thrive upon it. Campbell added that he enjoyed seeing his first generation of students graduate and move on to their futures. He loves his job as an English professor and will continue for years to come. As a final word of advice, coming from someone who values the importance of literature, it would be to stay off the phone. “It brings out the absolute worst in people because none of us want to do hard work. No one wakes up in the morning going, ‘you know what I’d really love to do very hard work.’” Campbell explained. “They (phones) play to our worst instincts and they’re winning… It’s unreal how much they’re winning and it’s only going to get worse.”
