A Journey Traveled Full Circle

Dr. Jonathan L’Hommedieu’s travels transported him from Northeastern Ohio all the way to Eastern Europe. He left Armstrong Atlantic as a graduate and came back a professor. His journey through academia brought him through Europe, but the call of home was too sweet to ignore.

OMS:  What brought you to Armstrong Atlantic as a student?

Dr. L’Hommedieu: My family moved from Ohio largely because it was a good time to sell the family business, and Savannah has nicer weather compared to Northeast Ohio. I chose to attend Armstrong because the school was small, the history department is relatively small, and I found Armstrong to be a place you have opportunities if you put forward the initiative.

Photo courtesy of the Armstrong Atlantic University History department.

OMS: What brought you back to Armstrong as a professor?

Dr. L’Hommedieu: I finished my dissertation in the first half of 2011, it was defended; there was a full time teaching position at Armstrong and the administration chose to offer the position to me. I wanted to move back to the states after studying abroad.  So, I jumped at the opportunity.

OMS: I understand that you studied at Turku University in Finland. What was it like studying abroad?

Dr. L’Hommedieu: Well that dates back to my time at Armstrong. I was out of sequence in my upper division classwork, which meant that either I finish a semester early and have a semester before potentially going to graduate school or going abroad for some time.  I decided to go to Estonia for a semester as an undergraduate. I picked up another language, became interested in North Eastern European history.  For graduate school, there was an inter-disciplinary master’s program at Turku in Finland.  I accepted the position and accepted a grant to study for my PhD. It was a great experience with a nice university town and the Fins are both a warm and cold people so, it made for a great academic environment.

OMS: What’s your area of expertise?

Dr. L’Hommedieu:  The area I have absolutely the most expertise deals with East European exiles and immigrants during the Cold War.

OMS: If you had to choose between a hard academic job and a job in the private sector, which would you choose?

Dr. L’Hommedieu: There are advantages and disadvantages to both. In an academic job you have a great amount of latitude to do your job.  Academic jobs have better stability in the long run. But in the short term they can be destabilizing because of position changes.

The downside is there is always the opportunity to make more money in the private sector.  So with greater responsibilities comes a bigger schedule but more money at the same time.

OMS: Who or what inspired your teaching style?

Dr. L’Hommedieu:  I suppose that my teaching style is a reflection of the interests that drive my research as well as the culmination of experiences with good instructors throughout my entire academic career.