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Getting to Know You: Dr. David Hitchcock

July 20, 2021

Experiencing new places and cultures is something Dr. David Hitchcock, Department Chair of World Languages and Cultures and Professor of Spanish, has found interesting from a very young age. Raised in both New York and Vermont, he received his bachelor's degree from Hamilton College in New York, his master's from Middlebury College in Vermont and finally, his doctorate from Cornell University in western New York. Originally starting a career in insurance, Hitchcock quickly realized it was time for a change after being approached by a former boss to see if he could lend his Spanish skills for lessons. This experience showed Hitchcock his true passion-teaching Spanish.

Hitchcock has now established a life in Evansville with his wife and three grown children, all of whom studied the Spanish language but ultimately followed different career paths. Completing his 16th year at the University, Hitchcock continues to share his passion for the Spanish language and culture with students on campus. 

Let's get to know more about Hitchcock! 

What interested you in studying/teaching Spanish? 

From early childhood family car trips to historic and scenic sites, I discovered that I loved the broad discovery that accompanies experiencing new places. As a teenager, I visited Mexico with my parents during high school and realized for the first time that what I was studying in high school had real- world utility. Then, during college, I was especially stimulated by the exposure I got to Spanish culture when I studied in Madrid and enjoyed a homestay during my junior year. I realized that language is the key to opening doors wide for other kinds of discoveries.  Living in Spain that fall deepened my interests in visual art, music, architecture, politics, world history, philosophy, religion, sports and food.  Sharing the experience by opening similar doors for others appealed to me, although it took me a couple of years to realize what later seemed obvious. I worked for a couple of years in insurance, and when I was asked to translate benefit summaries and provide my boss and her husband private language lessons, it finally occurred to me that it was time for a career change. I taught high school Spanish and worked on my master's degree in the summer, and I was hungry to take my learning to a higher level, hence the decision to get a doctorate. 

Why did you choose USI? 

I was excited about joining a growing institution and knew Evansville fairly well because much of my wife's family lived there. The faculty I met were impressive in all ways, and Evansville turned out to be a great place to raise children-a friendly, open community, which is also how I see USI. And to be clear, I am very glad USI chose me! 

What motivates you to succeed? 

I hope that beyond providing for my family and myself, my success as a teacher, scholar and community member will have raised the possibility of my students, colleagues and community advancing in one way or another.  

What is one thing most people don't know about you? 

My secret skill is being able to recite quickly the names of all the American presidents,  something I mastered at age 6. They also may not know my wife and I live with three cats and two dogs. My students quickly learn the latter fact, though! 

What is one thing you do to destress after a long day? 

Read.  Reading has been a lifelong passion, a gift my parents gave their children by taking us to the library once or twice a week, ensuring that books were always around, and conveying in us the importance of not accepting the mediocrity of an empty or static mind.  

If you could make one rule that everyone had to follow, what rule would you make? 

Make sure to greet the people you meet on the street and communicate with in writing-if not a "Dear John or Jane," at least a welcoming "Hi." Abruptness, diverting your glance, not looking at one another in the eye-these have become too frequent and inevitably put a distance between people, making us all seem too self-involved or downright frigid.  

What's one piece of advice you would give to students? 

Listen carefully and respectfully to one another; being "ever mindful of the needs of others" allows us the possibility of increasing our own civility and that of the people with whom we share our planet.  We are bound to have our differences, but if we cease to recognize the humanity of those who possess different perspectives from our own, we are lost. 

What is your favorite homecooked meal? 

My culinary tastes constantly evolve over the course of my life.  I would say for now, it would include grilled salmon, corn on the cob, Caesar salad, followed by carrot cake for dessert. 

What are the top three things on your bucket list?  

Out of my direct control is having grandchildren to spoil, of course, but I guess living in a house on a lake, visiting Ireland (I discovered not many years ago that I had a lot of Irish ancestors) and learning another language or two would be my top three. 

What is one thing you will never do again?   

Drive on the Kahekili (aka West Maui) Highway.  My wife and I wandered blindly on to it recently during our first trip to Hawaii, and I would say the experience was about as close as I want to get to engaging in an extreme sport. 

What's your favorite thing about working at USI?   

In a couple words, the people. If you don't feel real affection for those with whom you share most of the awake hours in your life, you really have nothing at all.  My time here constitutes the happiest 16 years of my professional life. 

This Getting to Know You feature was written by Tobi Clark, a student worker in University Communications.

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