As a literature major at PLNU, Dr. Matt Applegate enjoyed thinking about the conceptual side of what he was reading, and one day, his roommate suggested he should enroll in a philosophy class. He did and says he immediately realized that is where he needed to be.
That class, with PLNU’s Heather Ross, associate professor of philosophy, led Matt to graduate from PLNU with a B.A. in literature and philosophy. After leaving PLNU in 2008, he went to Binghamton University in New York where he earned his Master’s degree in philosophy and and a Ph.D. in comparative literature.
Now, Matt is an assistant professor of English and digital humanities at Molloy College, a private college in Long Island, New York. Along with teaching English, he is the director of the program’s writing concentration and the chair of the Digital Humanities & New Media Department.
With varied interests, Matt says that he’s very lucky his career allows him to teach in an interdisciplinary program. At Molloy, he teaches between two different departments, and in a given day, he could be teaching traditional composition or front-end web development. His love of technology started in high school when he learned how to code and use Photoshop. With his students, Matt also explores the philosophical concepts that are created through media and technology.
Once Matt discovered how much he enjoyed philosophy, he began to concentrate his focus within the wide range of philosophical study. His focus was on social and political thought in the 21st century. He says professor Ross also focused on these ideas in class, which influenced him. Since professor Ross also had interdisciplinary background, Matt says she taught him a lot and was one of his most prominent mentors at PLNU.
By his junior or senior year he says he started thinking about pursuing an interdisciplinary doctoral program that would combine literature and philosophy. According to Matt, it took a village to get to graduate school. Now as a professor himself, Matt truly understands how much time his professors invested in his success; they were teaching him how to write cover letters and pitch academic research, as well as guiding him on his honors project on the short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Maybe a little biased, but Matt says he recommends all students focus a portion of their academic studies in a humanities study. Whether that be literature, philosophy, history or another concentration, he says these programs teach students to have strong skills in writing, reading, critical thinking and cultural analysis. He says these lessons are important and transferable in any career path.
As for choosing PLNU, a couple of instances influenced Matt’s choice. He knew of the school initially because his aunt is an alumna. He knew he wanted to attend a small university where he could really explore his interests. Also as a southern Californian who loved to surf, skateboard and eat burritos, it was the perfect spot.