Dr. Nate Windon brings a new perspective and presence to the department

By Emily Croft, Staff Writer

The English Department’s newest addition, Dr. Nate Windon, already feels at home as a Musketeer.

Coming to Xavier from Loyola University Maryland, Windon has been teaching at the collegiate level for a total of 10 years and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. 

Specifically, Windon has been hired as a Pre-1900s American Literature professor. His goal is to take this topic of American Literature and test the bounds of what students think. 

“In all of the classes I teach, I try to broaden my students’ perspectives on both the terms ‘American’ and ‘literature,’” he said.

Part of his mode of broadening perspective involves using a variety of art forms in class, rather than limiting himself and his students to documents and books. 

Currently, he is teaching English 205: “Literature and the Moral Imagination” course on the topic of the literary history of Cincinnati, which studies local literature from the 19th century. 

He’s also teaching an upper-level English course, History 438, titled “Latin American Revolutions,” in which students learn about the Haitian and American Revolutions by analyzing relevant writing from their respective time periods.

Windon received his doctorate. in English with a focus on 19th-century American Literature at Penn State and his master’s at the University of Connecticut. 

It was Xavier’s Jesuit philosophy and mission-driven focus that piqued Windon’s interest and attracted him to the school. 

“There’s an expectation of students coming to class as people — the whole person — and not just as a student who has paid their tuition,” he said.

Windon also emphasizes his appreciation for the community-centralized aspect of Xavier, specifically with the professor-student relationships that are fostered here. 

“Seeing folks semester after semester and building up a community is something I look forward to here,” Windon said. 

Looking back at his own undergraduate experience, Windon began as a pre-med student until he found his true passion in the humanities.

After diving into the humanities and attending graduate school, Windon knew he wanted to teach and help others. 

“I’ve benefited from so many professors in my own life, and to be able to play that role for other people is the most I could hope for,” Windon said.

Windon’s love for teaching is not confined to the collegiate level, though. While at Loyola, he taught at a correctional facility. 

“(My students) were hungry for the opportunity to read and to talk to people,” he noted.

Windon will be taking the spring semester to head to the University of Michigan for a fellowship to work on a book about how the idea of “old age” has become a social category with implications that people do not want to experience.

Never having truly been to Cincinnati prior to his interviews for the position, he is excited about his wife and two-year-old daughter’s move to the Queen City. 

When he’s not with his family or grading papers, Windon enjoys biking. In fact, he loves biking so much that he has ridden across the country. 

He even woke up at 4 a.m. to bike through Kansas in an attempt to beat the heat. His first few experiences here at Xavier have been nothing short of memorable.

“It’s been a lot of fun… to join this community knowing I’m going to be part of it for a long time,” Windon said.