Balance, Academia, and Egypt With Dr. Shrock: An Interview

I recently caught up with a former history professor of mine. Here is our interview.

Chris: Dr. Shrock, one of the things that has always struck me about you is the degree to which you are accessible to students and alums. How are you able to maintain that accessibility while still getting all your other work done and leading a family of your own?

Dr. Shrock: This balance can be very difficult. We all have to make choices about how we spend our time. Working at a teaching-oriented university provides me with the ability to spend more time with students and alums because the institution rewards me for strong teaching as well as service and publishing. If I was at a publish-or-perish institution, I would be forced to close my door more often to work on my research projects. At the same time, I do it because this is the part of my job that I really enjoy. I like students and I enjoy mentoring. My wife and I have a really good partnership when it comes to our family. We are both professionals and are very busy, but we are careful to make time for our three boys and for each other. It is a process of constant give-and-take as well as late nights. I guess the bottom line is that I value the relationships I have with everyone in my life and I try to make time for them all.

Chris: What research are you working on right now?

Dr. Shrock: Right now I am in the process of getting an article on gun culture, violence, and manliness in early twentieth century boys' fiction published. I have been researching it for a ridiculously long time so something needs to get written. After that I am probably going to write a short article on juvenile book readership in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century for a conference in March.

Chris: What is a good book you've read recently that had nothing to do with your research or classes?

Dr. Shrock: I like Erik Larson, In the Garden of Beasts, which is about an American family in Berlin as Hitler and the Nazis dismantle Germany's democracy. It is a history book, but not really related to my research or classes.

Chris: What advice would you offer to someone who was considering a career in academia?

Dr. Shrock: I would urge them to think very carefully about their choices. Academia can be a fantastic career, but there are real trade- offs that should be considered. It takes a great deal of time--are you prepared to lived in relative poverty until your late 20s to early 30s? Job prospects for many fields in the humanities and social sciences are not that good. Pay rates for professors have fallen relative to the other professions over the last 50 years as well. If you really love your discipline then these are all surmountable issues, but I would urge people to think realistically about what they want out of life.

Chris: One of the classes I took from you as an undergrad dealt with Middle East history. 2011 has been a fascinating year in the Middle East. What are your expectations going forward for countries like Egypt and Libya that experienced regime changes?

Dr. Shrock: This is a very difficult question. Both these countries and Syria are excellent examples of the wave of Middle Eastern peoples upset with authoritarian regimes. The 2006 World Gallup Poll demonstrated that the one element that Middle Eastern people most admired about the U.S. was our free political process. Combine this with the fact that a majority of people in most nations of the region are under the age of 45 and you could get sweeping changes. Egypt has a history of reform and attempts to create democracy that have stymied over and over again by an array of social forces and economic issues. Obviously, Libya's freedom is very important to them, and it is an important marker of the wave of democracy sweeping the region. But, Egypt will be the real test case due to its size, power, and prominence. I must be honest, I thought the way violence had escalated and the apparent intransigence of the military would halt political reform in Egypt, but the elections this week have been amazingly peaceful. I am cautiously optimistic!

Chris: Thanks, Dr. Shrock!