Professor of History Julia Bruggemann has been teaching at DePauw for 17 years. The DePauw sat down with her to pick her brain about her experiences.
TDP: What sparked your interest in teaching in general and your specific subject?
JB: To be honest, I didn’t know I had an interest in teaching until I tried it. In graduate school I had a chance to earn some money as a teaching assistant and I instantly loved it. Even though I did not choose the teaching materials at that time, I enjoyed the conversations with the undergraduates. Together, we used historical sources to try to figure out how people in the past thought and reacted to different situations. I loved the adventure and collaborative nature of these intellectual journeys. Nowadays, I choose the readings and materials myself, but the conversations with students haven’t lost their appeal. Every group of students brings something different to the table and history – or at least what we make of it – changes as we ask new questions of it. As a historian of modern Germany, my students and I often have to wrestle with difficult historical and ethical questions, but to me the material never gets old or stale - as our contemporary world changes, so does/should our approach to history. It is this dynamism that I want to share with my students.
TDP: Who was your favorite teacher/mentor/professor?
JB: I had a history professor in my first semester in college who noticed me – even though I was just one student in a large survey class. One day she called me into her office to talk about one of my essays. I was pretty intimidated and nervous about what would happen in this meeting. To my amazement I found out that something I had written had struck her as interesting and she actually wanted to discuss my ideas. Being taken seriously in an academic setting changed how I saw myself. I felt instantly empowered. I try to pass this feeling on to my students.
TDP: What was the best piece of advice you received while growing up?
JB: I grew up in post-1970s West Germany where young people were expected to question authorities (teachers, parents, politicians). I wasn’t always the most radical agitator, but a healthy sense of skepticism has stayed with me my whole life. We don’t have to reject all tradition, but I think it is incumbent upon us as engaged citizens of the world to question and critically examine our past, our traditions, our elders, to see how we can make things better, more fair, more inclusive. Change can be hard, but is often good.
TDP: What do you like to do for fun?
JB: I love hanging out with my 7-year old son, traveling to Europe and beyond, cooking, reading, and of course, spending time with friends.
TDP: Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
JB: Here.