I think that the idea that there's such a thing as a national literature that's somehow uniquely expressive of a national soul or culture or mentality is probably also something that nobody really believes in anymore.

Basically what you want in any profession - I would say the same thing if I were a lawyer or a doctor - is you want bright undergraduates to look at your profession as something they would be interested in getting into.

You want diversity in any intellectual organization. I mean, that's how good ideas arise.

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. Never, btw, ask that androgynous paper clip anything. S/he is just a stooge for management, leading you down more rabbit holes of options for things called Wizards, Macros, Templates, and Cascading Style Sheets.

I don't think the same curriculum fits every student body.

I think our sensibility is not modernist anymore, that is, sensibility of people who are interested in art and literature.

One of the good things about the profession of being a professor, is that you also have time to do what interests you and what you care about or what you're good at.