It was 1985 when Stewart Donovan began teaching at St. Thomas University. Since then, many things changed at STU; from it’s size and aesthetic to its teaching methods. But Donovan has been around to witness it all. And it’s been great, he says.
Donovan was born in a working-class family who lived at an Irish village in Cape Breton. His older brother was the first in his family to go to university. Donovan knew the one way out of the working-class was education, so like his brother, he studied. A lot.
He got his B.A. from St. Francis Xavier University where he studied modern literature with Reverend R.J. MacSween, who became his mentor. He then got his Master of Arts from the University of Ottawa and his PhD in Anglo-Irish literature and drama from the University College Dublin.
For the past 31 years Donovan has taught modern literature, drama, film and cultural studies at STU. In fact, he founded the Irish studies and film programs at the university.
When Donovan started working at STU, he quickly felt this was home.
“St. Thomas was intimate, small, its cultural history and background, being funded by Irish Catholics. It was very much a homecoming for me. People who had taught me were here. It was familiar.”
His first 10 years at STU are the ones he cherishes the most. He says the biggest difference from STU at that time compared to now is its size.
“The physical size of the campus and the beauty of it. There used to be a parking lot in front of Martin Hall. James Dunn Hall didn’t exist, Brian Mulroney and McCain Hall didn’t exist. You wouldn’t recognize it.”
Class sizes were very different as well since the university was short-staffed. He remembers first-year classes had between 30 and 40 students.
“But anything from second year up, I would have anywhere from 60 to 200 students or more. In one of my film classes I think I had more than 250 students. It was a little tough,” he remembers.
What Donovan liked the most about the university back then is how quickly you could get things done.
“Whenever I wanted a conference or whatever I would just go to the president. In those days we had very little administration.”
Since the university was much smaller back then, all of the staff members knew each other very well.
“Because each department was so small, you got to know people in different fields. From very early on I’ve been interdisciplinary in my interests. Some of the best friends I made and colleagues in collaboration were people in other disciplines.”
Now, there are some faculty members he’s never even met.
Through the years, Donovan has adapted his way of teaching his students. He believes this generation of millennials have to be extremely political because of world issues like global warming.
“I now teach a lot more critical political theory than I did back then, especially in English literature. In the early days it was a fairly conservative, more traditional kind of approach towards learning. Now it’s more inclusive and broader.”
Regardless of time, the engagement with students is for Donovan the most rewarding aspect of being a professor.
“When you see the lights come on and they get it, that’s the big thing. They share what you love.”
At his 61 years of age, he’s not even close to retiring. Donovan says he will continue to teach until students throw things at him and until his health allows him to.
“See, because I enjoy my job. This is a job about acquiring knowledge and experience and supposedly wisdom right? So that is something that you are able to impart when you are older.”
