English Prof Comes from Eclectic Background

After sporadically living in Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Massachusetts again, Eric D. Bennett, Ph.D., Department of English, finally chose to settle down in Rhode Island, joining the Providence College community this year. Originally from the small rural and agricultural town of Adrian, Mich., Bennett spent his childhood jamming with friends in a high school garage band. "I was in a high school garage band called Scarecrow Boat," he said. "We were idiot kids, I was only 16. This spring...NBC's Parks and Recreations featured an episode in which they were making fun of Scarecrow Boat. It was written by a man who knew I was in a band named Scarecrow Boat." After his high school graduation Bennett left his small town of only 20,000 people to attend an even smaller undergraduate institution of only 26 students. Deep Springs College is an all-male liberal arts school that accepts 13 students per year on a full scholarship. The college has a two year program in which the students incorporate both liberal arts and manual labor. The school is located on a cattle-ranch and alfalfa farm in the High Desert of California. "The students choose the other students and the faculty," Bennett said. "There were no majors and no requirements, except public speaking. I studied literature and philosophy." Besides studying philosophy and literature, Bennett helped grow alfalfa, a purple blossomed legumes plant used for animal feed. He also helped milk and slaughter cows. At Deep Springs College there are many different labor positions a student can undertake, ranging from dishwashers or gardeners, to cowboys or mechanics. Some of the men, including Bennett, also participated in a unique extracurricular. "I also took modern dance classes in the horse barn," he said. "It was funny to see all the men dressed like farmers, and they were doing modern dance in a barn." After the two-year program at Deep Springs College, Bennett transferred across the coast to become an English major at Harvard University. Bennett was "very happy" to be part of the co-educational school in a much bigger city. Bennett took part in many extra-curriculars at Harvard. "I was a cartoonist for the paper," he said. "I worked on the humor magazine, and I was on the literary magazine." For one year after his graduation from Harvard, Bennett wrote for Encyclopedia Africana. The anthology was created after a model W.E.B. DuBois envisioned. It is the encyclopedia of African and African-American culture and history. As a writer, Bennett would spend his mornings doing research and his afternoons writing. When the year was over, Bennett studied creative writing at the University of Iowa, receiving his MFA in fictional writing. After receiving his MFA, Bennett moved a few states over to New York City to work and produce a small independent film. However, after the attack on the World Trade Center, Bennett lost his job. Bennett then moved back to his home in Michigan and applied to graduate schools. Bennett went back to Harvard, this time for his Ph.D. in English. "I studied the rise of creative writing post-World War II," he said. "Initially creative writing was founded and funded by people who were aware of the Cold War and believed in American freedom of expression versus the Soviet Union beliefs." At Harvard Bennett specialized in twentieth century American fiction. Bennett graduated from Harvard this past June. Bennett spent much of his time while out of school traveling for both work and leisure. "One summer I wrote for Lets Go Indonesia, which is a travel guide," he said. "I went to Indonesia and drafted a copy in the summer of 1996. I spent the summer of 1999 in Germany working on fiction. I have German relatives. My maternal grandfather was from there so I stayed in a little village of 300 people called Schney in northern Bavaria. It was a little farming region towards the south. I also spent a short time in Italy, Australia, and Austria, and I went to Ireland to study Latin in the summer of 2003." Attracted by the Development of Western Civilization Program and the Department of English, Bennett applied and received a job as an assistant professor at the College. Bennett began his first semester teaching "Intro to Literature," "Intermediate Writing," and "Development in Twentieth Century Fiction." Second semester he will take on Intro to Lit again, but also "Modern American Fiction" and "American Fiction since 1960." "I absolutely love it here," he said. "I am impressed by the students and honored to be with my colleagues. I also like the size of the classes."