Byrne: Joyce's Dubliner in Norton
Brooke Suckow-Maines '12
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Features
As Visiting Assistant Professor of English James Patrick Byrne's third year at Wheaton comes to a close, he is still one of the best kept secrets on campus.
The Irish Literature professor moved here from Ireland around 2005, although he has been back and forth many times in the course of completing is masters at Boston College and studying under a scholarship at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He currently resides in Scituate, Mass. with his wife and cat.
While attending B.C., his class read a play that was set in Northern Ireland. Since he was from the county of Cork, the class looked to him for all answers pertaining to Ireland's culture. He was of no help whatsoever.
The experience motivated him to study the literature of his country. Byrne said, "I believed in America's dream" and had "avoided Irish Literature like the plague."
He loved the optimism that American authors professed in their works. He also added that he dislikes the "depressing idea of being Irish" due to the country's dark and dismal history.
Although he enjoys American literature, his favorite author is none other than Dubliner James Joyce. When asked why he had such a soft-spot for the wordy mastermind, he replied, "anything said that he hasn't already, I haven't found."
Byrne relishes working with the Wheaton student-body. "I love learning from the students…they are polite, intelligent, enthusiastic, and intuitive. And that's what keeps me here."
Since he is a visiting professor, his stay here is contractual and doesn't have a designated length of time, but he says, he loves the English department and the college itself.
On broader scale, Byrne plans on staying in America, he said, because "I prefer the American students" over students from Ireland. He mentions that the educational systems in the two countries are very different.
Not only does he enjoy his students, but they are smitten with his teaching style, "it's not really a topic that I ever thought I would be interested in, and he makes it interesting" says Laura Richardson '12. Erin Ryan '11, a past student of Byrne's, says "his interest in literature is contagious. I can't say enough good things about him."
Although he has no intention in moving back to Ireland, he claims, "I miss my family the most." He is the only one from his immediate family that no longer lives in Ireland, but "they love Ireland too much to move." He chuckles to himself at the notion of any family member crossing the Atlantic. He said there are many differences between the two countries, but he finds himself becoming more Americanized as time passes.
What is the hardest part of fitting in here in America? "Ordering an Italian sub is such a process! There are all sorts of different terms for things. Once I have accomplished that, then I know that I'm finally American."
The Irish Literature professor moved here from Ireland around 2005, although he has been back and forth many times in the course of completing is masters at Boston College and studying under a scholarship at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He currently resides in Scituate, Mass. with his wife and cat.
While attending B.C., his class read a play that was set in Northern Ireland. Since he was from the county of Cork, the class looked to him for all answers pertaining to Ireland's culture. He was of no help whatsoever.
The experience motivated him to study the literature of his country. Byrne said, "I believed in America's dream" and had "avoided Irish Literature like the plague."
He loved the optimism that American authors professed in their works. He also added that he dislikes the "depressing idea of being Irish" due to the country's dark and dismal history.
Although he enjoys American literature, his favorite author is none other than Dubliner James Joyce. When asked why he had such a soft-spot for the wordy mastermind, he replied, "anything said that he hasn't already, I haven't found."
Byrne relishes working with the Wheaton student-body. "I love learning from the students…they are polite, intelligent, enthusiastic, and intuitive. And that's what keeps me here."
Since he is a visiting professor, his stay here is contractual and doesn't have a designated length of time, but he says, he loves the English department and the college itself.
On broader scale, Byrne plans on staying in America, he said, because "I prefer the American students" over students from Ireland. He mentions that the educational systems in the two countries are very different.
Not only does he enjoy his students, but they are smitten with his teaching style, "it's not really a topic that I ever thought I would be interested in, and he makes it interesting" says Laura Richardson '12. Erin Ryan '11, a past student of Byrne's, says "his interest in literature is contagious. I can't say enough good things about him."
Although he has no intention in moving back to Ireland, he claims, "I miss my family the most." He is the only one from his immediate family that no longer lives in Ireland, but "they love Ireland too much to move." He chuckles to himself at the notion of any family member crossing the Atlantic. He said there are many differences between the two countries, but he finds himself becoming more Americanized as time passes.
What is the hardest part of fitting in here in America? "Ordering an Italian sub is such a process! There are all sorts of different terms for things. Once I have accomplished that, then I know that I'm finally American."
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