Dr Charles Lowe obtained his Bachelor ' s Degree in English and Economics from Drew University, USA, and a PhD degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After being a visiting faculty member at universities in New York and Shanghai, he began to lecture in Zhuhai as an Associate Professor as well as the Programme Director of Contemporary English Language and Literature. He is now Associate Dean of UIC ' s Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. His research interests include Victorian Literature, Creative Writing, American Literature and Modernist Literatures.
Hobbies … Charles: Swimming is becoming my hobby. Zhuhai ' s weather is nice. It ' s a good exercise. I like all kinds of music. I like Jazz: Miles Davis, John Coltrane... I like some folk like Bob Dylan, and many different pieces. Uche: I love sports and I like walking, and jogging. I like to play ping pong and football as well. Nigeria is a football nation and has produced top players. I enjoy watching such as Jay-Jay Okocha. Nwankwo Kanu too was fantastic in his prime. He played for Arsenal and I ' m an Arsenal fan, but generally I love clubs that play good football.
Favourite books … Charles: My dissertation was on Thomas Hardy. I like his reading. I have a long list of works and people who I like. Some of the people I know are very good authors and are people from whom I can learn a lot. I have always been intimidated by people who are well-known; however, I was actually surprised to find a lot of the times they are generous because they have reached a certain point of their career. They are actually helpful and generous so more than just spirit. Recently I ' m reading War and Peace, Russian literature; I enjoy it. Uche: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, but he ' s passed away. This book was about colonial days in Nigeria, the relationship between Christianity and tribal rules in those days and how they influenced the local culture. It ' s been adapted in many countries. I like it because it ' s about culture, modernism, learning about whom you are, how foreign cultures influenced and then restructured most of the things we knew and in fact abandoned most of them.
New roles … Charles: I ' m responsible to assist the dean in helping run the division. I attend committee meetings and give feedback. I also help maintain the records and do a lot of the bureaucratic labour, which is important, like working behind the scenes. I also help her in whichever way she wishes me to and as much as I can. This semester we will continue to adapt to our students ' needs and always increase in the quality of teaching. Uche: My key role is to support the dean and the division in ensuring that it runs based on objectives and targets that are set out, and my duties come in different forms. Currently, I am working on several initiatives including the plans to develop a new programme and to streamline some activities across all the programmes in the division related to course administration. I am also assisting with the plans and guidelines being outlined to ensure that the key aspects and activities of the new programmes, E-Business Management and Information Systems, and Marketing Management remain smooth.
Accomplishments … Charles: I feel accomplished when as a teacher, I feel my students are learning and our classes are a positive place. As a writer, I create something that people find fulfilling and fit for them in whatever way. They wish to experience a story and when you write something it ' s always in the readers ' hands. So when someone can find something meaningful in whatever form, I feel
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