约翰Pagano

教师 Emeritus, retired in May 2023

约翰Pagano joined the Manhattan School of Music Humanities Department in 1993, coming over from the Barnard College English Department to engage the remarkable student population at MSM, a population impressive for its creative passion 和 vocational drive. 大学毕业后 优等生 和 Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia College in 1979, he set out to secure his doctorate in English literature by a rather unique 和 unexpected path. In the spring of his junior year, on the verge of completing Columbia’s premedical curriculum, John decided to pursue a teaching career 和 switched his major to English literature, despite the apparent irrationality of committing to this direction without having taken a single English course. Guided by the intellectual excitement of the Humanities seminar classroom, the mentorship of his most inspiring teachers, 和 the enchanting capacity of Tolkien’s 《火博体育》—the spellbinding effect of which convinced him of literature’s inestimable value—John underwent a radically transformative episode of vocational reorientation. 参加ing Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts & 科学, he was the recipient of a Mitchell Fellowship, 社长奖学金, 和 a four-year Danforth Foundation Scholarship to promote the careers of potential college teachers. 他的论文, directed by Karl Kroeber 和 entitled “Enchantment 和 Imagination in the Poetry of John Keats,” focused on love 和 诗歌 as quintessential imaginative experiences. This early attempt to investigate the enchanting power of imagination provided a foundational impulse that has shaped John’s intellectual 和 personal life.

John’s defining literary 和 teaching interests include composition, 诗歌, 中世纪的浪漫, 现代主义, 浪漫主义, 和幻想. His favorite writers include William Blake, John Keats, Emily Dickinson, 和 Tolkien. He began teaching literature in Columbia’s School of General Studies in 1983; joined the English Department at Barnard in 1988, where he 继续s to teach; 和 became a member of the Manhattan School of Music Humanities faculty in 1993. 在男男同性恋者, John served multiple terms on the 教师 Council during Marta Istomin’s presidency, has been a member of the Curriculum Committee since the mid-90s, 和 has been a member 和 recording secretary of the Council of Chairs since its inception. John became Chair of the MSM Humanities Department in 1999, guiding it through a variety of transformations 和 challenges in the subsequent years. In addition to teaching the Humanities Core Curriculum, 约翰教三门选修课, 艺术中的浪漫精神 & Literature,” “The Fantastic Imagination,” 和 “Genius, Madness, Vocation: The Artist as Eccentric.” The pleasure 和 privilege of sharing with his students the delight, 想知道, 和 wisdom afforded by literature remains his primary inspiration as a teacher.

In 2012 he was awarded the President’s Medal for Distinguished 教师 Service at Manhattan School of Music. In 2015 he was chosen as a 教师 Trustee.

As a balance to his academic life, John developed a passion for ice hockey, chess, 和 martial arts. Having played on Columbia College’s ice hockey team during college, John became involved in coaching his sons for nearly a decade as they moved through various levels of youth ice hockey competition—an enlightening experience that convinced him of the immensely valuable role of play in the life of any individual. 他把这一点铭记于心, where he feels especially privileged to engage a community of young artists defined by their creativity 和 their passion to perform—和 玩音乐. Captivated by the Fischer–Spassky World Championship Chess Match of the early ’70s, John began playing chess competitively, joining both the Manhattan 和 the Marshall Chess clubs, 和 eventually reaching the level of expert. Inspired by the worldwide Bruce Lee phenomenon of the same moment in cultural history, John became an avid practitioner of the martial arts, studying Shotokan Karate with Toyotaro Miyazaki. He 继续s 玩 chess 和 practice martial arts on an almost daily basis.

John lives in Queens with his wife, 苏珊, a pediatric nurse 和 lactation consultant: they have known each other for nearly 40 years, having navigated the challenges of marriage 和 children to remain best friends. 他们有两个儿子, 约翰和安东尼, whose presence in their lives is a daily reward 和 a perpetual joy.