YouAlberta
Welcome YouAlberta’s “Have You Met” series in collaboration with @ualbertastudents! Every other week we’ll get to know a student from the University of Alberta.
What three words best describe your U of A experience?
Activism, art, and relationships.
Why did you decide to study your major?
My specialization in both my undergraduate and graduate time at U of A is in Secondary Education— which is really the study of learning, culture, and schooling. I chose this initially as an undergrad because I wanted to be a teacher, and as a graduate student, because I was drawn to the outstanding faculty and research in my department in both art education and cultural studies. I knew I could do a research-creation (aka artistic thesis) with the faculty in that department, and that largely influenced my decision to come back from where I did my MA, at OISE/UofT.
What advice would you give to your first-year self?
Dear first-year Brent … when you get an F on your first English paper, don’t stress about it. You end up being a high school English teacher and doing a PhD in English Education too! Lol.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
These are good questions. Okay, real person: Sarah Ahmed. Which is the nerdiest answer ever to anyone working in cultural/gender studies, but her work has impacted my thinking the most. I also saw her at U of A in the first year of my PhD and was sweating so much because I was that excited. Fictional answer? Julie Cooper-Nickel from the early 2000s smash hit show “The OC”. If you know, you know.
What is your favourite way to unwind after a long day?
After I have a long day of teaching, I usually come home and do research and write for my PhD. This may not sound like ‘unwinding’ to some, but it actually is really meditative for me to sit in silence and think through philosophical concepts. Weird, I know.
What do you miss most about campus/in-person classes?
2019 was the first year I began as an instructor for undergraduate (education) students, and I loved it so much. I miss working with student-teachers and being ignited by their passion for teaching. I also really miss the guy in HUB (near the FAB entrance) who has sold me coffee since I was 19… we talk every day almost and have amazing philosophical conversations. Embarrassingly, I don’t remember his name and it is far too late to ask him what it is.
What are you most proud of?
I think I am most proud of my time working at iSMSS and Camp fYrefly. I felt like then I was really braiding my passion for education and social change in one role there. It also helped me come out as queer and make change on campus and in local schools. I owe a lot to that place and to the people I met there.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
Honestly, working out. It has totally helped during this pandemic and helps me think and feel with intention. I also couldn’t live without writing— it is a lifeline for me to make sense of the world and makes up a large portion of my intellectual, emotional, and spiritual life.
What is your go-to study snack?
Coffee, for sure. Sometimes I reward myself with a beer if I make it through a certain amount of articles in one sitting, so that is definitely a motivating factor.
Who inspires you?
My best friend, Makram Ayache. He did his B.Ed. with me at the same time and we met in a drama class here at UofA, and we have been inseparable ever since. I have also had amazing mentors in my department, largely Dr. David Lewkowich (my supervisor) who has taught me that academic life can be one of creativity, care, and can actually be quite enjoyable! My family also really inspires me and shows me what lifelong love can be. My dad is one of the most inspiring professors I have ever known, so I grew up really looking up to him and continue to emulate my practice after his.
About Brent
Brent Saccucci (they/he) is a second year PhD student in the Department of Secondary Education who studies research-creation and queer pedagogy. In his teaching career to date, he has taught everything from Grade 4 Art in Toronto to graduate school at UBC. Now, Brent spends most of his days as a middle school guidance counselor and teacher, and spends his nights working on his PhD. On the weekends, he eats nachos and sleeps in.