Meet: Dr. Engel

By: Jessica Reynolds

I would like to introduce you to Steve Engel. He is the Assistant Professor of English and Director of Composition. Dr. Engel has been a professor at Defiance College since 2019. He decided to work at Defiance College because he has always been drawn to small liberal arts colleges. He stated that he went to a smaller school as an undergrad and liked the strong sense of community. Before he came to Defiance College, he was a professor at the University of Michigan.

In the interview, I asked him to state what his favorite thing about Defiance College is. He responded, “Right now, I am really enjoying hosting the English Teas. We have one once a month. We bring in a guest (usually virtually) and talk about English things. Personally, I love being able to interview some really fascinating people.”

Dr. Engel was asked what his favorite class is to teach at Defiance College. His favorite class to teach was a course that was offered last semester, “Making Writing”. During that class, they got to do many different writing technologies. They learned how to write in cuneiform, make their own ink, write poetry on a papyrus scroll, and construct a hard-covered book.

The last couple of questions of the interview were focused on Dr. Engel outside of the classroom. A fun fact about him was he was in a sketch comedy group, and they performed with a Canadian group called The Vacant Lot. A hobby that Dr. Engel has is traveling, cooking and letterpress. During the interview, I asked who was his role model growing up and why. He responded, “Growing up, I really admired Steward Copeland (the drummer of The Police) because I was a percussionist (and not a very good one), and I wanted to be able to play the way he did. I also Looked up to the comedians on Second City Television, like Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Martin Short. They had a certain level of commitment to their characters that was impressive.”

Dr. Engel can be found in Schauffler 125.