Brendan Cummins
Lecture topic: There and Back Again: The beauty of the unknown and not knowing what I want to be when I grow up
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Brendan Cummins (BA '16, MA '18) is an Instructor in the School of Liberal Education. While working on a Master of Arts he got hands-on experience teaching, particularly in LBED 1000, and discovered how much he enjoyed spending time with students. His research focuses on the intersection of the history of religion, new religious movements, and the constructs of cultural and personal identity. Brendan teaches mostly first and second year classes and spends a lot of his time challenging students to question the things they know. In all his classes, students are encouraged to stretch the boundaries of how they acquire knowledge and how they think about the world in which they live and work.
Teaching was never something Brendan planned to do. But not having a clear plan was not unusual for someone who has worked as a bartender, bouncer, sawmill worker, chef, kitchen manager, radio DJ, construction and slaughterhouse worker, and ironworker over the course of his life. His academic journey has had many starts and stops, and he has been to university, college, and technical school. His interests are broad and varied, ranging from classic opera to race and religion to comic book culture. He believes his experience shows that a liberal education does not start and finish in the classroom — it extends into the world beyond these walls.