Born in New Orleans, La., Professor Frances Ferguson had no idea that she would eventually teach English at Johns Hopkins University. In her youth, she was interested in the piano and violin, which has declined over the years. Though she had a poor academic experience in high school, she was exposed to a much higher level of scholarship once she arrived at college.
"I think it was an advantage to have gone to schools that were really terrible before I got to college, because I really appreciated a good college and how different it was from the schooling I had before," said Ferguson.
Ferguson was an undergraduate at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and she still thinks fondly of her years there, especially for its empowerment of women.
"I was in the same class as Hilary Clinton, and we were the last cohort that graduated before a lot of the Ivy League schools became coed," she said. "I think it's an incredibly value thing to have the experience of being at women's colleges since there is an opportunity for women that is there."
She explored many interests at Wellesley, where she was greatly affected by some of the English classes at the college despite initially considering a career as a sociologist.
"But I had no idea what that was," she said with smile.
"However, it just so happened that I took some courses with extraordinary English professors and it made me think about some of the things that were discussed in those classes."
Those classes left a lasting impression on Ferguson and she eventually went to graduate school at Yale University, where she obtained her Masters and Ph. D. Since then, she has taught at Johns Hopkins for two different durations. Right after obtaining her Ph. D. , she taught at Hopkins for four years before moving to the University of California-Berkeley for eleven years. She then returned to Hopkins in 1988 where she has been on the faculty ever since.
She was attracted to teach at JHU by several factors.
"Hopkins seemed like an incredibly interesting place because it valued discussion and real exchange and interchange among students, faculty, and faculty of all ranks ... in a way that other schools don't," she said.
Over the past 30 or so years, Ferguson has noticed numerous changes at the University, especially in the English Department.
"I think that the changes in the undergraduate courses at the university are really huge ... there were far fewer English majors in 1973 than there are now ... I got the feeling that they felt very isolated and beleaguered." She notes that where there used to be only three to five English majors per year, there are now dozens of them and credited the increase to much better promotion by the University of its other strengths.
"Hopkins has always had a strong program in humanities, but it used to be the case that there was much less awareness outside in the world that there were strengths outside of the sciences," she said. "I think the university has done an excellent job of promoting Hopkins' strengths in departments like English and History, which has attracted more applicants."
Ferguson maintains an interest in many forms of literature, as shown by the many books adorning her office walls. Her favorites include the poetry of William Wordsworth, but she also enjoys the novels of Samuel Richardson and Jane Austen. Her most recent publication, in fact, was on Austen.
To those undergraduates who are interested in pursuing a career in English, Ferguson had these words of advice.
"You must understand that there are not very large numbers of jobs ... you have to deal with the discouragement of having to look for a job for two or even three years, " she said. "Even for very talented people, it can be tough to get a job quickly. You can do an excellent dissertation but it doesn't mean you will have control over your future schedule." Those interested in a career in English Literature should keep these words in mind.
