The Journey from Chemistry to Humanities 

When Brian Norman ’99 first arrived at Pacific Lutheran University, he set his sights on the chemistry department, but soon found himself drawn to some of the departments on upper campus.

“I was going to be an environmental biochemist and save the world,” laughed Norman, who is now a professor and the co-director for women’s studies at the University of Idaho.

Norman recalled he was interested in the “intellectual messiness” of conversations and ideas. He ended up graduating with three majors – environmental studies, French and women’s studies – with minors in English and chemistry. Norman then attended graduate school at Rutgers in English.

“I think you need to be intellectually curious to be a good citizen,” Norman said.

After finishing up at PLU, Norman had to decide what to do next. He found the skills that the English department gave him would play out well in a variety of scenarios. Law? He could do that, and considered it. He also worked for a non-profit organization focusing on providing medical education in South Africa.

“The ability to think clearly and write clearly, as well as provide complex and clear social analysis – all this I received directly from my English degree, and it proved exceptionally useful,” Norman said.