Anna Klobucka

Long & winding road for native of Poland leads to post as professor of Portuguese

Anna Klobucka grew up in Poland, studied at the University of Warsaw, earned her doctorate at Harvard, began her teaching career at Ohio State, and was a professor at the University of Georgia.

And now she's at UMass Dartmouth, chair of the Department of Portuguese. After years of adjusting to varied academic environments--not to mention climates--she has settled in, becoming a U.S. citizen in March: "I knew it was unlikely I would be living anywhere else and I want to be able to participate more actively in this country's political life."

After seven years as a professor of Portuguese at the University of Georgia, she came to UMass Dartmouth in 2001. Returning to the Northeast, "I had this sense of recognition, of feeling I was back home. I was actually quite moved when I walked around Cambridge," where she'd spent six years at Harvard.

Roughly 20 years ago, as a prospective freshman at the University of Warsaw, Klobucka hadn't fixed upon a specific major. But she was clear about two things: she would focus on the humanities, and she was increasingly drawn to Latin-American literature. She considered Spanish studies, but, convinced by a friend that the Portuguese department was stronger and more responsive to students, Klobucka enrolled there, and took an immersion-like course in the language.

She spent her senior year at the University of Lisbon and "by then I was hooked." While she returned to the University of Warsaw for her masters in Iberian Studies, America was the place to go for post-graduate work: "I was very attracted to the U.S. I was interested in the country. . . (and) I liked the idea of living a cosmopolitan life.

"I was accepted at Harvard on a full fellowship so I didn't have to teach for the first two years. Otherwise, I think it would have been too overwhelming.

"The culture shock lasted for the first semester. There were lots of differences, just figuring out the system, which was much less structured. I had to take two courses in Portuguese and then I could take two more of my own choice. It was so wide open and that actually was very good.

"I told myself that, if I made it through that first semester, it would be okay--and it was."

Klobucka taught first at Ohio State--"the first time in my life I lived on a street without sidewalks"--then spent seven years on the University of Georgia faculty. Both places were markedly different than Cambridge.

For example, her Ohio students were far less driven about their grades than their Harvard counterparts, and many juggled coursework around jobs--not the case for most Harvard youths. Students at Georgia and Ohio tended to come from near-by areas, while "at Harvard, I only had students from 'elsewhere.'"

And Klobucka's accent was far more likely to provoke the "Where are you from?" question in Ohio and Georgia than in Cambridge. (Her English is clear and graceful; Klobucka is fluent in four languages, and can read three others.)

While Klobucka was not unhappy at Georgia, she enthusiastically applied for the UMD slot when it was advertised. Being in the Northeast would mean more and easier collaboration with other scholars: "with so many universities in the area, it is not a big deal to bring in speakers, or go to conferences.

"I had been a guest lecturer here and I knew the department well. I heard from friends that the students really want to be here. We have such a rich area, so many resources to draw from."

Klobucka's fields of expertise are Portuguese literature and pedagogy. A prolific author, editor, and conference presenter, she has been the lead organizer of two annual conferences on Portuguese topics. This spring's daylong gathering focused on the teaching of Portuguese from pre-school through college.

"We want to develop a blueprint for cooperation among different levels. We want people to talk to each often more often.

"We know that there are communities with many Portuguese-Americans where Portuguese language is not offered in schools. There certainly is room for growth, and this conference explored how to make that happen."

Only three years old, the Portuguese Department is widely respected; with four full-time professors, it is the largest in the country. Especially impressive to Klobucka is the department's impact on its students:

"We still have many students who are first-generation college. They blossom in this environment and we've seen quite a few success stories."

--Diane Hartnett, Staff writer, UMass Dartmouth Publications Department

This article originally appeared in the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Volume 7, Number 3, May 2003

 Last Updated On: 11/7/05