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Dr. Jonathan Swainger

The person behind the professor

Hannah Rizun
Contributor

D* Swainger is a history professor at UNBC, whose
research interests include legal and crime history in
Canada with an emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. We
caught up with him to talk about history, coffee, and cats.

What made Dr. Swainger come to UNBC? “There were plenty
of job opportunities at UNBC as a new university. I thought
I would take a chance on a new university and a new city,”
he said, noting that he was in the midst of teaching at

the University of Calgary when the job was posted. When
asked what made him stay, he replied, “they hired me, of
course.” Laughing, he continued to say that, “The best of
[the] UNBC experience is reflected in the small classes.

I had that experience at the University of Lethbridge,
where most of the professors knew their students by their
first names in their second or third years... so you hada
different relationship with your profs, you simply couldn’t
get away with stuff. It was different in the fact that if I cut
a class, my prof would confront me. That’s what we get
here, where we get these relationships where students

actually know their professors... even do research with
them. These are amazing opportunities and if through this
process one gets an educational experience that you get no
where else, then this is the place one wants to work at.”

Why should every student take a history class? “Historical
perspective shapes perspective. I very firmly believe that
historical knowledge is about changing the way you act in
the present day; understanding that things are historically
contingent and nothing happens by happenstance, and
that the current situation is a product of the past. Coming
to understand that provides one with much deeper insight;
and thus, we are less apt to make short-sighted snap
judgments and decisions,” he said, emphasizing that through
writing, oral argumentation, and the ability to do research,
history students are tooled up to almost any career.

What makes your classes unique? “I would like to think
that students know about my reputation well enough to
know that it’s going to be tough, and in effect students
self-select and make the classes better because of it. But
really, it’s the students.” Next semester Dr. Swainger will be
teaching “Canada Since Confederation” and “Topics in Law,
Order, and Society,” if you’re not afraid of his readings.

What food or drink should the students bring you to
get on your good side? “Coffee is always good. Oh, and
the nachos from the Thirsty Moose. I’m certainly bribe-
able, though I can’t guarantee any results.” Dr. Swainger
takes his coffee with cream, and “fake sugar that I’ve
got here [laughs]. It has to be a decent cup of coffee,”

he said, adding that Degrees is the best on campus.

What is your favourite animal?
“Cats, because cats don’t like us.”

Can you name one of your long-term goals? “They’re
mostly academic, like finishing my novel on the Peace
River Region. But also some old-guy things, like living
somewhere where I don’t have to shovel snow.”

Do you have a secret talent? “Probably mimicry, I’ve
been known to do variations on the English accent. I
consider good lecturing to be the likes of the theatre;
so, | if can pull that good stuff out, that’s good fun.”

When Dr. Swainger isn’t lecturing, he’s buried in his
basement, reading something - anything at all, really.