Claire Allison McGuire
Features Editor
Madonna Hettinger, professor of history, has lived a truly amazing life: from meeting David Bowie when his son graduated from The College of Wooster (“everyone was just in awe, he was standing there with the parents,” said Hettinger), to the many summer programs in Tuscany with her husband, it is no wonder she is a favorite among many Wooster students.
Walking into Hettinger’s office, leather jacket on, she talked about her and her husband’s summer study-abroad program in Tuscany, Italy, which dates back to 2006. Hettinger feels that these programs embody the College’s core mission of building leaders of strong character and globally engaging both students and faculty, which Hettinger believes can be done through adapting to new environments.
“…We need to step out of our comfort zones in a global setting, not as tourists or in a library, but in the world, to learn to adapt,” Hettinger said. “The best way to learn is to talk to others…We don’t have high needs for creature comforts, it really helps you to appreciate the world.”
Hettinger shared that the Tuscany program was built by hand without the aid of travel agents.
“When shopkeepers… see a Wooster student, they know it’s a Wooster student, not because they’re wearing Wooster on their chest, but because Wooster has a name there. The people there know that Wooster comes back and gives back.” Hettinger said, emphasizing the importance of community building outside of Wooster’s campus.
There’s a reason this program is popular among students. “By doing everything ourselves, we’ve gotten to meet some really interesting people and do some things other people would not be able to do,” Hettinger said. “We only stay with landlords that we know we could knock on their door in the middle of the night. We’ve gotten to stay in estates dating back to the year 800 (CE). It’s a surprise a day.”
Hettinger’s expertise lies within the global middle ages. She reminisced about another academic fieldwork trip she went on. When in graduate school for Asian studies, she went to Mongolia to explore “the culture that made up the greatest empire of the 13th century, and also the Silk Road trading routes. What’s funny is where we stay[ed] in Italy is an end point of the Silk Road that extends into Europe.”
Hettinger also believes that Wooster students, and individuals in general, take their experiences with them throughout everything they do. “I think a lot of people want to connect their personal history to global [history],” Hettinger said, emphasizing that traveling on a global scale is vital for fostering connections.
Hettinger has been a professor at Wooster for 35 years and is inspired by I.S. projects from her students. “One of the real pleasures of being a faculty member here is seeing students grow from right out of high school to their graduation…[and] encouraging them to take intellectual risks.”
Hettinger also shared a personal anecdote about her relationships with past students, saying, “Many [students] stay in our lives, so if my phone rings late at night, it could be someone we got to know well because they traveled with us, or they played on my husband’s hockey team or because they were an I.S. student, and they’re calling because something exciting — or something scary is happening in their lives — and they want to share that with us,” emphasizing the importance of building student-faculty relationships.
Through all the positive memories and experiences, Hettinger also shared a change she wishes to see on campus, specifically regarding the complications that come with in-person learning and dorm living at Wooster.
“Wooster used to be a place known for people saying ‘hi.’ It’d take you an extra five minutes to get from Kauke to Lowry because that’s how many times you’d have to stop and talk to someone. Now, it’s not the same. I think we need to repair that social glue and work on how to better build community.”
Hettinger went on to share a final thought about Wooster: “Wooster is a magical place; so many alumni say, ‘This is the reason I am where I am’. I think Wooster should be a first-choice college. Wooster has an amazing story and history, we just need to figure out how to tell it.”