Steven PokornowskiSteven Pokornowski is a mentor, a TA, and a leader on the English Department’s Council of Graduate Students. Before attending graduate school, he had, as he describes it, “a very eclectic work history,” including an “odd constellation of jobs” such as a bookshelver, a heavy machine operator, a radio advertisement editor, a theater usher, and a video game tester. This enthusiastic 5th-year English Ph.D. student can now add another twinkling title to that constellation: Funding Peer Advisor for the Graduate Division based at the Graduate Student Resource Center.
Steven, who grew up on the southeast side of Chicago, earned Bachelors of Arts and Sciences in English and Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master of Arts in English at UCSB. Steven’s emphasis in the English Department is 20th Century and Contemporary British and American Literature and Culture.
His Ph.D. research includes a focus on zombies. Yes, zombies. Says Steven: “I’ve become absolutely invested in critiquing the politics of the zombie, as a fraught, problematic figure.”
The GradPost caught up with Steven, who found time in his busy schedule to share what grad student life has been like for him, what he does for fun, advice he would give to grad students, his goals for the future, and why he’s got that fascination with zombies. Read on. …
Tell us a little about your research.
I focus on how infection and immunity, and terror and security are represented in 20th Century and Contemporary Literature and Film. Or as I like to tell people, I work on the politics of contagion and control in Modernism and Zombies.
What has graduate student life been like for you?
It’s been a TON of really exciting, really rewarding work, and I love it! I’ve met a lot of amazing people and learned a lot about myself, the world, and the profession. It’s been a great experience, although living in Santa Barbara on graduate student salary can be challenging.
What do you wish you had known before you started grad school?
I was extremely lucky to be very well prepared for grad school by Professor James Hansen at the University of Illinois. He walked me through the whole process and really did not pull any punches in outlining the possible roadblocks to funding, mentorship, progress, etc. What I do wish I had known is how important cultivating and maintaining an academic community is in academia.
What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?
I have a lot of different motivations. On the one hand, I want what many graduate students want: to make a notable and valuable contribution to the academic community, and expand and deepen knowledge. At the same time, I’m also motivated by my students, whose enthusiasm and interest make teaching fun and rewarding. Yet again, though, I’m motivated by my parents, who always encouraged me and gave me tons of advantages that they never had.
Who is your hero and why?
I don’t think I have a hero. There are a few figures in my life, and one in history, who work similarly for me, though. My academic mentors, my parents, and [novelist-playwright-poet] Samuel Beckett – an incongruous list that I hope would make them all a little happy.
What do you do to relax? What makes you happy?
To relax I spend time with my girlfriend and our awesome cats! I also really enjoy watching sitcoms; I’m a big fan of Parks and Rec, I still love Futurama, and lately I’ve been into The Mindy Show and The New Girl. Of course, I also love to watch … zombie movies!
Please tell us about your interest in zombies. How and why did you become interested in them?
I grew up with zombies, well not literally, but you know what I mean. In the early 1990s I started playing the Resident Evil video games as they came out. Around that time I also saw Night of the Living Dead for the first time. Little did I know at the time that these would be formative experiences for my academic career. I have a forthcoming publication on biopolitics and the logic of survival in Night of the Living Dead and The Walking Dead, and I will be presenting a paper focusing largely on the Resident Evil transmedia franchise at MLA. So, I’ve been interested in the zombie since I was old enough to run away from them in video games and be allowed to see blood and guts in TV and movies. I didn’t realize how interested I was in the figure of the zombie until well into my graduate studies, when my graduate advisor asked me what I was interested in other than the canonical modernist figures I had been studying. Unexpectedly, the first thing I blurted out was “I like zombies!?!” The realization changed my academic life, making me rethink my proposed project and rethink the figure of the zombie. I’ve become absolutely invested in critiquing the politics of the zombie, as a fraught, problematic figure of colonialism, empire, and slavery it seems crucial to think critically about how and why it has shambled its way into the popular imagination.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
I’m an open book, but most people who aren’t close to me don’t realize that I am a very anxious person. I handle stress well, but boy does my girlfriend hear me complain about it!
What do you hope to be doing 5 or 10 years out of graduate school?
Five to 10 years down the road I hope to be an English professor, doing research and writing on literature and culture. I also hope to be as happy as I am now.
Do you have any advice for current grad students?
Absolutely. Ask questions. Ask lots of questions. And be sure to go to conferences early and network — not even just for professionalization purposes, but just because you’ll learn so much more, and meet so many more amazing and intelligent people.
What do you hope to accomplish in your new role as Funding Peer Advisor?
As the new Funding Peer Advisor, I hope to keep grad students up to date about funding opportunities, to keep the Source up to date. I also hope to teach them how to find these funding opportunities on their own. A simple but challenging plan, I’m sure.
Welcome, Steven, to Graduate Division and the Graduate Student Resource Center!