literature, music fan
Helen Lock earned a B.A. at the University of Liverpool, U.K., and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She is originally from Wales and grew up mostly in Kent, England. She arrived in the U.S. in 1983 and began working at ULM in 1991.
I chose to work at ULM because I like the South–the people, the food, and the weather. ULM was a university that seemed large enough to have a good diversity of students, but not so large as to be impersonal. There were also some impressive faculty.
I like reading, listening to music, and traveling, not necessarily in that order.
One thing most people don't know about me is that I'm a big Led Zeppelin fan.
I enjoy talking to students about books, inside and outside class; as a result of these conversations, I often find myself thinking of new approaches to my research. For example, a student once mentioned in passing that the endings of two novels were similar, and by the time I'd driven home an entire comparative essay–which was subsequently published–had begun to take shape in my mind.
I am most proud of two accomplishments: pride in seeing my book, "A Case of Mis-Taken Identity" published, and pride in winning the Outstanding Professor Award for the College of Arts and Sciences in 2003. The award was special because it was by a vote of my peers.
It is my hope that students go out into the community taking a little more enthusiasm for literature, or caring a little more about the kind of literature I teach, or knowing a little more about writing; heightened awareness of literacy in general is vitally important to any community.
One of my favorite ULM memories is when one of my students won a medal at the Student Research Symposium, and wanted me to be in the photograph with him and President Cofer. I was so flattered!
I like the coffee shop, and I like my office, where I can let the world come to me; so as I usually take the coffee to my office, I'd say that is my favorite spot.
My specific area of study is African American literature, in which I became interested initially simply because there are so many terrific writers. Gradually I became fascinated by the way in which they have used literature over the decades in order to claim a voice and an identity, often in times when they were being marginalized by the broader American society. Subsequently, I have become interested in the ways in which other marginalized groups have used the same tactics, producing much wonderful writing in the process.
If my students could leave my classroom knowing one thing, it would be that literacy matters; words are power.