Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Gengaro.
Hi Christine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I moved to Los Angeles from Queens, NY 25 years ago. I came to LA to attend the Ph.D. program in music history at USC. When I graduated in 2005, I was looking for work as a full-time professor in Music History, but I was working a couple of jobs as an adjunct professor at Pasadena City College, SMC, and LACC (oh the dreaded freeway flying!). As luck would have it, a year after I graduated, Los Angeles City College (part of the Los Angeles Community College District) had a job opening for a teacher of classical and popular voice, which is what my masters degree is in, so I applied and got the job. That was 2006.
A full-time college teaching job was the dream, so I decided to stay and make LA my permanent home. This was, of course, somewhat distressing to my Italian-American family back in New York, but we’ve made it work through regular visits (me back to NY, mostly) and weekly chats. I lived near LACC in East Hollywood for most of the years I’ve been out here, but moved out to Boyle Heights during the pandemic.
Teaching college is truly a dream come true, and it’s inspired me to focus on growing as a teacher, and also expanding my work as a researcher and writer. Having flexibility in between semesters allows me to travel, work in archives, present research at conferences, and publish. I write a lot about classical music and its use in media like movies, TV, advertising, and video games. I also write about film music and connections between music and literature. For the latter topic, I got very deep into the work of Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange. My dissertation was on that novel and film, and I’ve met a great community of scholars around Burgess, who was also a self-taught composer. I provided a new annotated edition of his memoir, This Man and Music for Manchester University Press in 2020.
Working in a learning environment is so inspiring, and my work outside of the classroom bears this out. I’ve authored two books, one on the music of the films of Stanley Kubrick, and one on the life and work of Frederic Chopin. I’ve also written numerous books chapters and articles as well. Two years ago, I wrote a textbook on Film Music for a class I teach called Film Music Appreciation. It’s an open educational resource (OER), which means it’s free for students to use. I’m currently researching on a project on the German animator Oskar Fischinger, whose work in the first half of the twentieth century has been extremely influential. Some of his papers are held in special collections at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, which is the library connected to the Academy of Motion Pictures. LA has so many amazing libraries, museums, and archives. I still routinely get back to Doheny Library at USC. It’s truly one of my favorite places on earth.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I graduated from college in New York, I got a job teaching middle school in the NYC public school system. It was the hardest job I’ve ever had. I knew I wanted to teach, but I wasn’t really sure how to go about pursuing that. The middle school job was rough. I don’t know if I was any good at it, but I was just trying to survive each day. Three years of that, and I was close to burnout. I made up my mind that teaching college was what I needed to do, and I was resolved to make that happen. I applied to doctoral programs in New York and California, and when USC came through with a scholarship, I made the very hard decision to move. I packed everything up and drove cross country. Saying goodbye to my mom and dad from the moving truck is one of my core memories, and I truly felt like I was leaping into the unknown.
When I was going to USC, the financial hardship was real. LA was a tad more affordable than it is now, thank goodness. My then-partner and I shared a studio apartment in East Hollywood that cost $715 a month. I had a TA-ship at USC and a part-time job, but I still had to take out loans to make ends meet. Those were some lean years, but I was getting my doctorate and seriously loving every minute of it.
When I found my job at LACC, I felt like I had been looking for forever, but I know I was very fortunate out of the gate. I feel like the folks in my family are very lucky when it comes to work. We won’t ever win the lottery because we don’t have that kind of luck, but we can usually find jobs when we need them. And I’m delighted to report that my student loans were forgiven a few years ago through the PSLF because the school I work at is a public institution. What a gift!
The struggles have been mostly personal. I came to Los Angeles with a partner, and that relationship came to a very messy end over a decade ago. Dating in LA can be challenging! After years of being on the apps, I came to the conclusion that I was satisfied just being by myself, and if I ever did meet anyone, it would probably be IRL and not online. That came to pass in 2019 when I met my now husband. He works in the Cinema/TV department at LACC and also teaches at Pasadena City College and Cal State Long Beach. We got married on Zoom during Covid times.
As I say, the challenges have tended to be internal. I’ve spent most of my life as an anxious perfectionist, so I’ve been learning to give myself grace. I can be so patient with my students and so impatient with myself, and for many years, I pushed myself so hard to produce, produce, produce. It’s been so strange to try to step away from that edge, but I’m learning to live in better balance. Being in LA vs. New York has helped. The pace here is not so rushed, and the overall attitude feels looser, easier, less focused on doing and more on being. It’s ok to take care of yourself here.
Being away from family has also been hard. My mom was in the hospital for months last year, and it was so awful to experience all of that from 3000 miles away. I got home as often as I could, but I felt terrible about leaving my older sister (my only sibling) to deal with everything and help out our Dad. Thankfully Mom is now home and recovering, but last year was an emotional roller coaster.
It hasn’t been the easiest road, but on balance, LA has been very, very good to me.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a full-time tenured professor in the music department of Los Angeles City College. I’ve won the faculty learning award and been named Scholar in Residence, which are ways they celebrate faculty who continue to grow in their field.
In recent years, I have been appointed to the position of Online Education Coordinator at LACC, which is something that takes up a lot of room in my schedule. This happened for multiple reasons. For many years, I was the only professor in music who was teaching any courses online. And consequently, I was able to make the transition to fully online teaching fairly smoothly. It also helps that most of my courses deal with music history and appreciation, which are easier to teach online than, say, choir or jazz band.
I’ll eventually go back to my regular schedule as a teacher, but while I’m in this position, it’s my role to support faculty who teach online. I provide workshops and information about new technology and the latest research on pedagogy. I’m passionate about incorporating culturally responsive teaching, equity-minded practices like ungrading, and helping faculty wade into the waters of AI while maintaining a strong sense of ethics and academic integrity.
It’s been great to be of service to my colleagues in this new way, and it has brought me into contact with faculty members I may not have otherwise known and other colleagues from around the district. My world in LACC has gotten bigger, so I think it was a good move to step back from teaching temporarily in order to explore this. I am also so interested in all of the new things that are happening in education, in online learning, and with AI. It’s been awesome to have my friends and colleagues not just from my school but from the whole district (9 schools in total) come to my workshops and network about best practices and productive ways forward.
I think I have a reputation as a patient helper and a hard worker, someone you can count on to get the job done. I’m also known to bring the levity and the humor to most situations. Growing up in Queens, I developed a kind of snarky sarcasm that I’ve never lost (although I have tried to minimize my New York accent). It’s always fun to provide some well-placed snark in a meeting or in the classroom, because sometimes we just have to laugh at stuff.
Humor has always been my secret weapon in the classroom. My thought is, if students laugh, it means they’re listening. And they might just remember things better if they’re having a good time. To my students, I think I make them feel valued and seen–at least that’s what I’m going for! At community college, we get all kinds of folks from all kinds of backgrounds, and it’s my job to create learning opportunities that reach many different kinds of learners. I’m always looking for new ways to do this, whether it’s allowing students to design their own research projects or respond to assignments with videos instead of writing–there’s always something we can do to make course material more accessible to students.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of creating a YouTube channel or a TikTok where I share some advice, tips, and hacks for students. You know, stuff like, “How to make an effective to do list,” or “Advice for time management around finals.” I also want to provide emotional support, because being a student can be challenging. I would want to call it The Gentle Scholar because I think it’s important to create a loving, caring space in which people can learn and discover. Everything I’ve experienced as a student and as a teacher would inform this endeavor. Maybe I can work on it this summer.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’m going to be co-editor of a new book series put out by Manchester University Press called Multiplexities. It’s primarily about film and film culture, but also TV and other media. My co-editor is Sorcha Ni Fhlainn, a scholar whose specializes in Gothic Studies and vampires.
My husband Kenneth Thomas is an amazing teacher and he’s also a documentarian. Check out It Came From Aquarius Records! We have two cats, Butter Lettuce and Dion. We are such fuckin hipsters. 😉
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.christineleegengaro.com/
Image Credits
Hannah Arista Photography (3 images)
