It’s Not Only About Literature:
What’s our Professors’ Favourite Movies, Books and Songs?
What’s our Professors’ Favourite Movies, Books and Songs?
words by Candy Li & Zhoe Zhang
photo from PEXELS
photo from PEXELS
Do you know how to make your professor suffer? Just ask them about their favourite books, movies and songs! They all have so many in mind that it torments them to choose only one or two. Do you want to know Dr. Murphy’s favourite movies after those film worksheets in Western Civilisation Class? Do you want to know Professor Basourakos’ favourite writers or plays after watching these years’ annual plays? Get yourself ready and enjoy being surprised by our professors’ answers while discover some unknown characteristics of them.
Prof. John Basourakos
BOOKS/WRITERS
For those who are familiar with Professor Basourakos, you may know his passion for plays. Therefore, it is not surprising that his favourite writer is Tennessee Williams. “Something of the parts he wrote, many writers nowadays don’t write that kind of dialogue, so poetic, so many different levels of meanings, depending on how you deliver it. He dared to go where other writers were not willing to go at his time, like issues and ways of thinkings,” he said. Other authors that Professor Basourakos likes are Henrik Ibsen, August Wilson, and Ntozake Shange. All those writers share one same thing—they write good stories.
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
When asked about movies, Professor Basourakos said that he was mostly interested in black and white hollywood films of 40s and 50s, no matter whether they are about gangsters, musicals, historical dramas, or comedies. Those black and white movies fascinate him because of the way they were shot. Different perspectives of films making were viewed as an art form at that time, a medium of communication. “The movies nowadays are moving very fast, but movies at that time are all about camera angles, lightings of scene, and stories. Nothing is moving very fast,” he commented.
Billy Wilder, who filmed Sunset Blvd., Double Identity, and Some Like it Hot, is one of Professor Basourakos’ favourite directors, as he thought Wilder always had interesting things to say through his films.
On the other hand, All about Eve is the movie that Professor Basourakos has watched over and over again. “You are watching the plot unfolding, the characters slowly have different layers stripped away, and more information is exposed. You are allowed to see different aspects of the character.The whole process of discovering the character is what excites me about those films. I do not like films that give me all the information in the first twenty minutes,” he told us.
SONGS/SINGERS
“I grew up when disco started to be in trend. I am not a die-hard fan of disco; instead, I like a little bit of everything.” Professor Basourakos told us, “My favourite band when I grew up was Blondie, an American rock band.” Other American rock groups he likes are Journey and Styx, from the 80s. He also mentioned that 50s pop singers were another favourite. “You want to get up and dance when you hear the music,” he said. Growing up in the age of Britney Spears, it may be a little bit hard for us to relate. However, you are welcome to try those old melodies as something new.
Prof. Donna Tong
BOOKS/WRITERS
The Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood is on the top of Professor Donna’s favourite writers list. “Her novels are creepily realistic in their character psychology,” she wrote to us. Her novel The Handmaid's Tale is eerily apropos right now with the rise of fascism in the West, and the novel is being adapted into a TV series this year.
William Blake, another poet that Professor Donna prefers, as his poetry and illuminated manuscripts are both beautiful and provocative. “I really enjoy the use of irony and paradox in both his words and images,” Professor Donna commented.
Li-Young Lee is also on Professor’s favourite poets list. “I really enjoy his use of rhythm and rhyme to mimic conversation but still draw attention to the sounds of language. I also feel more personally connected to his poetry since he writes about immigration, assimilation, and alienation in a lot of his poems,” she wrote.
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
When it comes to great directors, I guess it is no surprise if anyone answers Ang Lee. Indeed, he is one of Professor Donna’s favourite as well. “I like that as a director, his focus is really on characterization and character psychology. While his Hulk did not do well among critics, it was the first comic-book film that cared very little about action. The focus was all on Bruce Banner's trauma, and his relationships to his father, mother, and lover, Betty. I'm not saying that's my favorite film from him, but it does demonstrate that he's not an action director; he's a director for character-driven narratives.”
For movies, Professor Donna recommended Ocean’s Eleven. She told us, “It's lighthearted but still well done. A very good heist film.” Another movie that Professor Donna enjoys is Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love (花樣年華), a simply beautiful but very sad film. “I loved it visually but I don't want to rewatch it too often since it's very depressing. I also love Maggie Cheung's qipao dresses in it! So glamorous!”
SONGS/SINGERS
Finally, we heard an answer of a singer from our generation! Lorde is one of Professor Donna’s preferences. Professor Donna stated that she did not like high-pitched singers. The lower register of Lorde is what attracts her, even though some of her lyrics are too random.
Unlike Professor Basourakos, Professor Donna likes movie soundtracks. She said, “I sometimes like more variety than is available on a single band/singer's album, so I like the diversity of music on different movie soundtracks. Her recommendations are Juno, The Great Gatsby (2013), Underworld (the first 3 movies so far), Whip It!, and Hidden Figures.
Prof. Joseph Murphy
BOOKS/WRITERS
“Impossible question,” Professor Murphy complained to us in his e-mail. Yet, he still wrote that novels that he returned to often are Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter as the best romance story ever, as well as Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House, the best novel about a professor. Nevertheless, his best reading experience is with Graham Greene’s The Quiet American. He told us that he picked up a pirated copy in Vietnam, where it’s set, and couldn’t put it down. He also mentioned Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood for the best one-liners, John Updike’s Couples for the best prose style, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved for the best last page. As a professor who always requires a Works Cited, he also noted some of his favourite nonfiction which includes essays by Adam Gopnik and Susan Sontag.
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
According to my own experience, Midnight in Paris should be one of Dr. Murphy’s favourite as I have watched it in two of his courses. And, it turned out to be true, as Dr. Murphy wrote down Woody Allen’s name for one of his favourite directors. However, for his all-time favourite movies, they are two classic American Hollywood movies It’s a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra and The Sound of Music by Robert Wise, director.
Favorite songs/singers:
For songs and singers, Dr. Murphy wrote us a long list in the e-mail: Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man”; Paul Simon, “American Tune”; Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides Now” and “River”; Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah” and “Anthem” (“There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in”); Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (album); Lin-Manuel Miranda, “My Shot” (from Hamilton: An American Musical). Feel free to paste any of the songs recommended, and listen to it on your Youtube or Spotify.
Prof. Agnes, Yun-pi Yuan
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
“I’m not sure if you can understand what I’m talking about because of the generation gap.” After thinking about it for a while , Professor Yuan said that Lawrence of Arabia is her favorite movie: “It’s a must-watch film. It involves issues of different cultures, war, etc.”
When asked which part of the movie attracted her most, she answered, “The whole film is wonderful! However, what I like the most is that it has some profound meanings and issues. I love movies which have deep connotations, leaving the space for the audience to ponder after watching.” She continued, “I also like another movie, The Sound of Music. I enjoy the beautiful melodies and the joyous atmosphere. But... compared to Lawrence of Arabia, there’s nothing worth thinking back again after watching.”
Besides the film itself, Professor Yuan said that the director of Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean is her favorite as well. Just like she has mentioned, she prefers movies that trigger people to think, and David Lean’s films always do. Many of his movies are great, including The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago.
BOOKS/WRITERS
Eileen Chang (張愛玲), one of the best and the most influential writers in modern Chinese literature, is Professor Yuan’s favorite author. “She is a genius writer!” she commented.
Professor Yuan also revealed in the interview, “I loved literature very much when I was in college, and I also wrote some articles at that time, so sometimes I wondered why I did not go on the path to literature (laugh).”
When we asked Professor why she likes Eileen Chang’s works so much, she answered, “I love her language, the way she uses the words; she has great sensitivity and could see through a lot about life at such young age. ” She kept on explaining, “I think it is also because Chinese is my mothertongue. I can deeply feel the words, the sentences, and the emotion of her stories. When I read English literatures, I do understand the meaning, but I somehow feel like there is a barrier.”
Among Eileen Chang's works, Professor Yuan highly recommended Jin Suo Ji (金鎖記), and Qing Cheng Zhi Lian (傾城之戀). "You should read them in person, and you will be able to understand what I said about how she used language to vividly depicted the relationship between humans”.
SONGS/SINGERS
Again, because of the language barrier, Professor Yuan’s favorite singers are also Chinese. She said, “I often listen to Tsai Chin (蔡琴) and Fei Yu-Ching’s (費玉清) songs. Both of them have special voices that cannot be replaced as well as excellent singing skills. Sometimes, I think a singer and his/her songs have certain associations, and I think both Tsai Chin and Fei Yu-Ching, regardless of the person or the song, give people a positive feeling.” Professor Yuan told us that every time she listen to Tsai Chin’s “Ting Yuan Shen Shen (庭院深深),” it reminds her of a camping experience from when she was in college.
Prof. Kate, Chi-wen Liu
When we sent the e-mail to ask Professor Liu about her favorites, she replied, “These are really difficult questions to answer. I have grown to love all of those films and novels I have studied and/or taught. If I were to let you know what my favorite books and films are, they can form a course’s reading list, or an annotated filmography.” As a result, if you are looking forward to knowing Professor Kate’s favorite films and books through this article, we are really sorry that we may let you down.
Nevertheless, Professor Kate did provide a list of her favorite singer/song. Let’s check her list out!!!
“I love the songs that speak to me about the spirit of an age or sentiments of a group of people,” Professor Liu wrote. One is Bruce Springsteen, who shouted “Born in the USA” for the American working class at the time and, in a low, hoarse and sexy voice, crooned to his young female fans: “Ohh, Fire~~.” Others are Lo Da-yu (羅大佑) and Taiwanese campus folk song singers (校園民歌手). Professor said that these singers powerfully expressed different generations’ emotions, mostly from 1980s to 2000. “Lo Da-yu’s love songs, light-beat and melodious, gave voice to two generations of Taiwanese youth in their pursuit of love, practice of guitar or singing at Karaoke and Hong Kong’s ‘return’ to China. Campus folk songs, in turn, articulated the naïve passion and careless freedom shared by many college students in the early 1980s, me included.”
Professor Kate also loves singers that tell stories, use literature, or simply “speak” to her. “Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, Tracy Chapman, Laurie Anderson and Joni Mitchell can all draw me into the stories in their songs,” she explained. In addition, “Joni Mitchell’s ‘Slouching Toward Bethlehem’ and Laurie Anderson's ‘The Dream Before’ help me introduce emotively a class discussion of W. B. Yeats, modern times, or simply different ideas of history. I love Laurie Anderson a lot also for her digitized voice performances, even though, sadly, no student liked her in any of my classes.”
Professor Liu also mentioned some songs that students introduced to her. These songs “grow on us and take on sentimental values as we move along in life,” she said. For example, Savage Garden’s “Two Beds and a Coffee Machine,” Eminen’s “Stan,” Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy,” Delta Rae’s “Dance in the Graveyard,” Alison Krauss’s “Jacob's Dream” and Of Monsters and Men’s “Dirty Paws;” "Unlike the way I teach academic writing, I allow these songs to make random and illogical connections, sometimes to a class, sometimes to a face, and, with “Jacob’s Dream,” to all the lost children in society."
Finally, Professor Kate said that songs do not need to be melodious to be her favorites. "At heart I have kept a recurrent song: 'lubriderm, lubriderm, lubri--, derm, derm, derm--,' a mere refrain of a lotion brand name, sung by a young father when he put lotion on his baby daughter to win her giggling response."
Prof. Li-wen Chang
FILMS/DIRECTORS
Professor Chang told us that her favorite films are mostly based on literature, like film adaptations or creative adaptations of movies, and she recommended a film, Shakespeare in Love, which she just showed her students recently.
“Although it’s fiction, for those who are interested to know more about Shakespeare’s time, it shows how Shakespeare ran out of inspiration and was inspired by his muse, Lady Viola, how the theater operated at that time, how Shakespeare became successful from a nobody, how the plot of Romeo and Juliet was written, etc.,” Professor Doris explained. “Shakespeare proved that in drama, you can represent true love from Romeo and Juliet. And I think how the Romeo and Juliet plot, which we are familiar with, can be turned into something creative and more relevant to modern people is the main reason why I have watched this film several times.” She highly recommended this movie, and said that even some students who did not know a lot about Shakespeare have fallen in love with this fantastic movie.
BOOKS/WRITERS
Professor Doris mentioned her favorite playwright, Tom Stoppard, when asked about her favorite writer. “Now I like to read Keith and Shakespeare, but when I was younger, I liked studying English drama. I studied him when I was an MA student,” she said. “ You can see how he combined the characters in Hamlet and the plot of Waiting for Godot in a play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor, minor characters in Hamlet, but Tom Stoppard made them central characters in this play. A lot of important and serious issues are explored in this play and also lots of funny stuff, so it’s both entertaining and deep.” For Professor Doris, Tom Stoppard is very humorous, and can come up with some wise and interesting comments. People would say that his plays demonstrate the theater of exhaustion because he himself studied the English dramatic tradition, and he would parody those plays with different traditions and turn them into something relevant to postmodern readers. And he also wrote for radio drama, TV series and movies.”
“He is a serious writer but writes in the most humorous and creative way. Everyone who is interested in drama should read Tom Stoppard,” Professor Chang concluded.
SONGS/SINGERS
Professor Chang’s favorite singer is Chou Hua Chien (周華健). “I like the way he sings. He is always positive, and you can feel the power in his voice. Therefore, you can be inspired when you are down or when you are going through very difficult situations; his song will comfort you.” Then, we asked the professor which song is her favorite. She replied, “I seldom go to KTV, but if my friends really insist and want me to request a song, I will pick Peng You (朋友). His songs carry healing powers; not only because of the lyrics but also because of the way he interprets the song.” At the end of the interview, Professor Doris said that she seldom listens to English songs, so next time you can share your Youtube playlist with her!!!
Prof. John Basourakos
BOOKS/WRITERS
For those who are familiar with Professor Basourakos, you may know his passion for plays. Therefore, it is not surprising that his favourite writer is Tennessee Williams. “Something of the parts he wrote, many writers nowadays don’t write that kind of dialogue, so poetic, so many different levels of meanings, depending on how you deliver it. He dared to go where other writers were not willing to go at his time, like issues and ways of thinkings,” he said. Other authors that Professor Basourakos likes are Henrik Ibsen, August Wilson, and Ntozake Shange. All those writers share one same thing—they write good stories.
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
When asked about movies, Professor Basourakos said that he was mostly interested in black and white hollywood films of 40s and 50s, no matter whether they are about gangsters, musicals, historical dramas, or comedies. Those black and white movies fascinate him because of the way they were shot. Different perspectives of films making were viewed as an art form at that time, a medium of communication. “The movies nowadays are moving very fast, but movies at that time are all about camera angles, lightings of scene, and stories. Nothing is moving very fast,” he commented.
Billy Wilder, who filmed Sunset Blvd., Double Identity, and Some Like it Hot, is one of Professor Basourakos’ favourite directors, as he thought Wilder always had interesting things to say through his films.
On the other hand, All about Eve is the movie that Professor Basourakos has watched over and over again. “You are watching the plot unfolding, the characters slowly have different layers stripped away, and more information is exposed. You are allowed to see different aspects of the character.The whole process of discovering the character is what excites me about those films. I do not like films that give me all the information in the first twenty minutes,” he told us.
SONGS/SINGERS
“I grew up when disco started to be in trend. I am not a die-hard fan of disco; instead, I like a little bit of everything.” Professor Basourakos told us, “My favourite band when I grew up was Blondie, an American rock band.” Other American rock groups he likes are Journey and Styx, from the 80s. He also mentioned that 50s pop singers were another favourite. “You want to get up and dance when you hear the music,” he said. Growing up in the age of Britney Spears, it may be a little bit hard for us to relate. However, you are welcome to try those old melodies as something new.
Prof. Donna Tong
BOOKS/WRITERS
The Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood is on the top of Professor Donna’s favourite writers list. “Her novels are creepily realistic in their character psychology,” she wrote to us. Her novel The Handmaid's Tale is eerily apropos right now with the rise of fascism in the West, and the novel is being adapted into a TV series this year.
William Blake, another poet that Professor Donna prefers, as his poetry and illuminated manuscripts are both beautiful and provocative. “I really enjoy the use of irony and paradox in both his words and images,” Professor Donna commented.
Li-Young Lee is also on Professor’s favourite poets list. “I really enjoy his use of rhythm and rhyme to mimic conversation but still draw attention to the sounds of language. I also feel more personally connected to his poetry since he writes about immigration, assimilation, and alienation in a lot of his poems,” she wrote.
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
When it comes to great directors, I guess it is no surprise if anyone answers Ang Lee. Indeed, he is one of Professor Donna’s favourite as well. “I like that as a director, his focus is really on characterization and character psychology. While his Hulk did not do well among critics, it was the first comic-book film that cared very little about action. The focus was all on Bruce Banner's trauma, and his relationships to his father, mother, and lover, Betty. I'm not saying that's my favorite film from him, but it does demonstrate that he's not an action director; he's a director for character-driven narratives.”
For movies, Professor Donna recommended Ocean’s Eleven. She told us, “It's lighthearted but still well done. A very good heist film.” Another movie that Professor Donna enjoys is Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love (花樣年華), a simply beautiful but very sad film. “I loved it visually but I don't want to rewatch it too often since it's very depressing. I also love Maggie Cheung's qipao dresses in it! So glamorous!”
SONGS/SINGERS
Finally, we heard an answer of a singer from our generation! Lorde is one of Professor Donna’s preferences. Professor Donna stated that she did not like high-pitched singers. The lower register of Lorde is what attracts her, even though some of her lyrics are too random.
Unlike Professor Basourakos, Professor Donna likes movie soundtracks. She said, “I sometimes like more variety than is available on a single band/singer's album, so I like the diversity of music on different movie soundtracks. Her recommendations are Juno, The Great Gatsby (2013), Underworld (the first 3 movies so far), Whip It!, and Hidden Figures.
Prof. Joseph Murphy
BOOKS/WRITERS
“Impossible question,” Professor Murphy complained to us in his e-mail. Yet, he still wrote that novels that he returned to often are Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter as the best romance story ever, as well as Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House, the best novel about a professor. Nevertheless, his best reading experience is with Graham Greene’s The Quiet American. He told us that he picked up a pirated copy in Vietnam, where it’s set, and couldn’t put it down. He also mentioned Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood for the best one-liners, John Updike’s Couples for the best prose style, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved for the best last page. As a professor who always requires a Works Cited, he also noted some of his favourite nonfiction which includes essays by Adam Gopnik and Susan Sontag.
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
According to my own experience, Midnight in Paris should be one of Dr. Murphy’s favourite as I have watched it in two of his courses. And, it turned out to be true, as Dr. Murphy wrote down Woody Allen’s name for one of his favourite directors. However, for his all-time favourite movies, they are two classic American Hollywood movies It’s a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra and The Sound of Music by Robert Wise, director.
Favorite songs/singers:
For songs and singers, Dr. Murphy wrote us a long list in the e-mail: Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man”; Paul Simon, “American Tune”; Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides Now” and “River”; Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah” and “Anthem” (“There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in”); Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (album); Lin-Manuel Miranda, “My Shot” (from Hamilton: An American Musical). Feel free to paste any of the songs recommended, and listen to it on your Youtube or Spotify.
Prof. Agnes, Yun-pi Yuan
MOVIES/DIRECTORS
“I’m not sure if you can understand what I’m talking about because of the generation gap.” After thinking about it for a while , Professor Yuan said that Lawrence of Arabia is her favorite movie: “It’s a must-watch film. It involves issues of different cultures, war, etc.”
When asked which part of the movie attracted her most, she answered, “The whole film is wonderful! However, what I like the most is that it has some profound meanings and issues. I love movies which have deep connotations, leaving the space for the audience to ponder after watching.” She continued, “I also like another movie, The Sound of Music. I enjoy the beautiful melodies and the joyous atmosphere. But... compared to Lawrence of Arabia, there’s nothing worth thinking back again after watching.”
Besides the film itself, Professor Yuan said that the director of Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean is her favorite as well. Just like she has mentioned, she prefers movies that trigger people to think, and David Lean’s films always do. Many of his movies are great, including The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago.
BOOKS/WRITERS
Eileen Chang (張愛玲), one of the best and the most influential writers in modern Chinese literature, is Professor Yuan’s favorite author. “She is a genius writer!” she commented.
Professor Yuan also revealed in the interview, “I loved literature very much when I was in college, and I also wrote some articles at that time, so sometimes I wondered why I did not go on the path to literature (laugh).”
When we asked Professor why she likes Eileen Chang’s works so much, she answered, “I love her language, the way she uses the words; she has great sensitivity and could see through a lot about life at such young age. ” She kept on explaining, “I think it is also because Chinese is my mothertongue. I can deeply feel the words, the sentences, and the emotion of her stories. When I read English literatures, I do understand the meaning, but I somehow feel like there is a barrier.”
Among Eileen Chang's works, Professor Yuan highly recommended Jin Suo Ji (金鎖記), and Qing Cheng Zhi Lian (傾城之戀). "You should read them in person, and you will be able to understand what I said about how she used language to vividly depicted the relationship between humans”.
SONGS/SINGERS
Again, because of the language barrier, Professor Yuan’s favorite singers are also Chinese. She said, “I often listen to Tsai Chin (蔡琴) and Fei Yu-Ching’s (費玉清) songs. Both of them have special voices that cannot be replaced as well as excellent singing skills. Sometimes, I think a singer and his/her songs have certain associations, and I think both Tsai Chin and Fei Yu-Ching, regardless of the person or the song, give people a positive feeling.” Professor Yuan told us that every time she listen to Tsai Chin’s “Ting Yuan Shen Shen (庭院深深),” it reminds her of a camping experience from when she was in college.
Prof. Kate, Chi-wen Liu
When we sent the e-mail to ask Professor Liu about her favorites, she replied, “These are really difficult questions to answer. I have grown to love all of those films and novels I have studied and/or taught. If I were to let you know what my favorite books and films are, they can form a course’s reading list, or an annotated filmography.” As a result, if you are looking forward to knowing Professor Kate’s favorite films and books through this article, we are really sorry that we may let you down.
Nevertheless, Professor Kate did provide a list of her favorite singer/song. Let’s check her list out!!!
“I love the songs that speak to me about the spirit of an age or sentiments of a group of people,” Professor Liu wrote. One is Bruce Springsteen, who shouted “Born in the USA” for the American working class at the time and, in a low, hoarse and sexy voice, crooned to his young female fans: “Ohh, Fire~~.” Others are Lo Da-yu (羅大佑) and Taiwanese campus folk song singers (校園民歌手). Professor said that these singers powerfully expressed different generations’ emotions, mostly from 1980s to 2000. “Lo Da-yu’s love songs, light-beat and melodious, gave voice to two generations of Taiwanese youth in their pursuit of love, practice of guitar or singing at Karaoke and Hong Kong’s ‘return’ to China. Campus folk songs, in turn, articulated the naïve passion and careless freedom shared by many college students in the early 1980s, me included.”
Professor Kate also loves singers that tell stories, use literature, or simply “speak” to her. “Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, Tracy Chapman, Laurie Anderson and Joni Mitchell can all draw me into the stories in their songs,” she explained. In addition, “Joni Mitchell’s ‘Slouching Toward Bethlehem’ and Laurie Anderson's ‘The Dream Before’ help me introduce emotively a class discussion of W. B. Yeats, modern times, or simply different ideas of history. I love Laurie Anderson a lot also for her digitized voice performances, even though, sadly, no student liked her in any of my classes.”
Professor Liu also mentioned some songs that students introduced to her. These songs “grow on us and take on sentimental values as we move along in life,” she said. For example, Savage Garden’s “Two Beds and a Coffee Machine,” Eminen’s “Stan,” Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy,” Delta Rae’s “Dance in the Graveyard,” Alison Krauss’s “Jacob's Dream” and Of Monsters and Men’s “Dirty Paws;” "Unlike the way I teach academic writing, I allow these songs to make random and illogical connections, sometimes to a class, sometimes to a face, and, with “Jacob’s Dream,” to all the lost children in society."
Finally, Professor Kate said that songs do not need to be melodious to be her favorites. "At heart I have kept a recurrent song: 'lubriderm, lubriderm, lubri--, derm, derm, derm--,' a mere refrain of a lotion brand name, sung by a young father when he put lotion on his baby daughter to win her giggling response."
Prof. Li-wen Chang
FILMS/DIRECTORS
Professor Chang told us that her favorite films are mostly based on literature, like film adaptations or creative adaptations of movies, and she recommended a film, Shakespeare in Love, which she just showed her students recently.
“Although it’s fiction, for those who are interested to know more about Shakespeare’s time, it shows how Shakespeare ran out of inspiration and was inspired by his muse, Lady Viola, how the theater operated at that time, how Shakespeare became successful from a nobody, how the plot of Romeo and Juliet was written, etc.,” Professor Doris explained. “Shakespeare proved that in drama, you can represent true love from Romeo and Juliet. And I think how the Romeo and Juliet plot, which we are familiar with, can be turned into something creative and more relevant to modern people is the main reason why I have watched this film several times.” She highly recommended this movie, and said that even some students who did not know a lot about Shakespeare have fallen in love with this fantastic movie.
BOOKS/WRITERS
Professor Doris mentioned her favorite playwright, Tom Stoppard, when asked about her favorite writer. “Now I like to read Keith and Shakespeare, but when I was younger, I liked studying English drama. I studied him when I was an MA student,” she said. “ You can see how he combined the characters in Hamlet and the plot of Waiting for Godot in a play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor, minor characters in Hamlet, but Tom Stoppard made them central characters in this play. A lot of important and serious issues are explored in this play and also lots of funny stuff, so it’s both entertaining and deep.” For Professor Doris, Tom Stoppard is very humorous, and can come up with some wise and interesting comments. People would say that his plays demonstrate the theater of exhaustion because he himself studied the English dramatic tradition, and he would parody those plays with different traditions and turn them into something relevant to postmodern readers. And he also wrote for radio drama, TV series and movies.”
“He is a serious writer but writes in the most humorous and creative way. Everyone who is interested in drama should read Tom Stoppard,” Professor Chang concluded.
SONGS/SINGERS
Professor Chang’s favorite singer is Chou Hua Chien (周華健). “I like the way he sings. He is always positive, and you can feel the power in his voice. Therefore, you can be inspired when you are down or when you are going through very difficult situations; his song will comfort you.” Then, we asked the professor which song is her favorite. She replied, “I seldom go to KTV, but if my friends really insist and want me to request a song, I will pick Peng You (朋友). His songs carry healing powers; not only because of the lyrics but also because of the way he interprets the song.” At the end of the interview, Professor Doris said that she seldom listens to English songs, so next time you can share your Youtube playlist with her!!!