(Bryan Brenize -- The Beacon)
By Philippe Boutros, Staff Writer -- boutros14@up.edu
Professor John McDonald's list of accomplishments is unique: suspected by the Lebanese police to be a spy. Bass player for the Low Bones. Member of the editorial advisory board of The International Journal of Arabic-English Studies.
"I don't want it to sound like I have a huge teacher-crush on him, but I totally do," Olivia Alsept-Ellis, a freshman, said. "I've decided to become an English major in large part because of my experience in his class."
McDonald's office is adorned with mementos from his experiences around the world. He's been to Italy, the Netherlands, Lebanon, Israel, Mexico, Canada and Romania. He's been to some of the world's major hotspots, such as the Golan Heights, which is a violently contested territory between Syria and Israel. Recently, his years spent in Egypt have pushed him more into the spotlight.
"There was a message on my phone from a right-wing radio station affiliated with Glenn Beck asking me to come on air and provide some commentary. I told them ‘no thanks,'" McDonald said.
Having taught at the American University of Cairo, he is in touch with some of his former students who have been a part of the protests that overthrew the 30-year regime of Egypt's erstwhile head of state, Hosni Mubarak.
"I'm very proud of Egypt, they still have a long way to go to achieve what they want, but it's a good start," McDonald said.
McDonald himself has come a long way from being a self-described nervous and over-friendly foreigner mistaken for a tourist. In 1997 he applied to 40 jobs and ended up being rejected by every single one – except for a position in the English department at the American University in Cairo.
"My wife and I talked about it, sold a bunch of stuff and moved there," McDonald said. "I was able to get into the rhythm of life, because you have to get used to everything. After I improved my Arabic, everyone wanted to bring me home!"
McDonald returned to the Middle East in 2008, when he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Amman, Jordan. He took advantage of that opportunity to delve deeper into the area's literature and cultures.
"The Egyptians harass you in a sweet way, the Jordanians are a lot more serious and the Lebanese drink beer while driving mopeds," McDonald said.
His appreciation for Arabic literature eventually led him to join the editorial board for The International Journal of Arabic-English Studies, a journal that promotes research into language and cross-cultural studies. First and foremost however, he remains an English professor, preferring Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings and Joan Didion to more "mainstream" poets like Robert Frost and T.S. Eliot.
"I wish I could find a word for what McDonald's like – I can't put it down. See, that's going to make him sound like he's a bad professor because I can't think of a word, but it's just that no word would really do him justice," Alsept-Ellis said.
