Amanda Shubert

Major: English

Hello incoming Oberlin students! I’m thrilled to be among the upperclassmen that get to greet you in your first days on campus. Until then, I’d be happy to answer any of your questions by email about the semester ahead.

Some things about me. I grew up in Montreal and enrolled at Oberlin as a sophomore with piles of advance credit from two years of post-secondary pre-university college (an anomalous Quebec education requirement). Coming to Oberlin was my first time living in the States. I study English here, a discipline perfectly suited to my wandering enthusiasms: from Chaucer to postmodern theory to photography to narrative nonfiction. For two years I worked as an academic programs assistant at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, and this coming semester I’ll act as research assistant to a professor in the English department. Aside from classes and jobs, I eat in a co-op, volunteer as an AMAM docent, and am a student representative for the English major.

If any of this piques your curiosity, please get in touch! Otherwise, I very much look forward to meeting you in August.

Short List of Favorites

Local Cuisine: Coffee at the Oberlin Market, though co-op pizza night is my favorite Friday night ritual.

Favorite Authors: It’s hard! Let’s say Chekhov, Edna O’Brien, and the literary critic Janet Malcolm.

Favorite Under-utilized Oberlin Resource: Oberlin owns a Frank Lloyd Wright house—one of his late Usonian houses designed for middle class families—that’s open for low-key informal tours every second Sunday. The community docents are eager for visitors, and you can basically just go hang out there, sit on the couches, and chat.

Favorite First-year Courses

JWST 234: Ethics and Decision-Making in the Holocaust. I love taking Professor Magnus’ Jewish history courses. This course will be offered this coming spring.