John V. Roach Honors College welcomes Sharrona Pearl as the inaugural Andrews Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies. She brings a broad range of academic research and interests to the TCU campus and looks forward to her interdisciplinary role.
Tell us about your area of research and/or expertise.
I was trained as a historian of science and medicine and have spent most of my career thinking about bodies, particularly the face, from an interdisciplinary perspective. The face is fundamental to how we make sense of others, build relationships, present ourselves to the world, communicate emotion and experience, and – for better and for worse – make judgements about others. I’ve written four books about the face from various perspectives. I am also doing some work right now on “age progression technology” and the milk carton kids phenomenon.
Along the way, I’ve done other academic projects around religion and media, feminist theory, race and apologies, Victorian visual culture and a wide range of body-related topics. I also do a lot of public-facing writing and freelance work in magazines and newspapers, which I really enjoy. These range from pieces that relate to my research to freelance writing about food, films and television, social justice and whatever is on my mind at the moment.
Where were you before coming to TCU? Tell us about what led you here and what your past experience brings to the Horned Frog community.
I was teaching at Drexel University in Philadelphia, with appointments in bioethics, history and science studies. I am really grateful for that experience, but I was cobbling together an interdisciplinary space, which of course has administrative and structural challenges. Here at TCU, I get to be interdisciplinary from the get-go. There are so many opportunities to bring my research and teaching into the wider community, which is particularly exciting.
You are holding the first endowed chair in the college, thanks to Paul and Judy Andrews. Can you share your thoughts on holding that position and being part of the John V. Roach Honors College?
I am really humbled and honored by this position and the trust placed in me by this appointment. I take seriously the responsibility that comes with being the inaugural chair, and I am very excited by the opportunity to think big and take on a leadership role in this capacity. Honors is the perfect home for this role with its longstanding commitment to creative approaches to pedagogy, interdisciplinary teaching and community-engaged learning. I am so excited to work with these talented students to see what we can dream up together!
What first drew you to academia and teaching in higher education? What have you most enjoyed and what challenges you?
I’m a nerd. I still can't quite believe that reading, writing, thinking and teaching is my actual job. I find working with students particularly energizing, and I love the balance of highly engaged teaching with the more solitary moments of research and writing.
As a humanist, I am very concerned with the state of the humanities in many spaces of higher education and the increasing precarity of academic labor across the board. That makes me especially proud and grateful to be part of TCU, which demonstrates a deep commitment to the centrality of the humanities, interdisciplinary research and teaching to the scholarly and academic world.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I’m just blown away by the warm welcome I’ve received and by the kindness and generosity of the TCU staff, faculty and students.