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A Professor Who Almost Wasn’t

Mark Goodacre considered leaving academia to work for Disney

Mark Goodacre, a professor in Duke’s Department of Religious Studies, teaches undergraduates and graduate students at Duke. Photo courtesy of Mark Goodacre.
Mark Goodacre, a professor in Duke’s Department of Religious Studies, teaches undergraduates and graduate students at Duke. Photo courtesy of Mark Goodacre.

Name: Mark GoodacrePosition: Professor, Department of Religious StudiesYears at Duke: 10

What I do at Duke: I’m a professor New Testament and Christian origins, which means I study the New Testament and associated literature. In some sense, the New Testament is an arbitrary collection of texts – they are the texts that found their way into the canon of scripture, but lots of texts didn’t make it and I teach those as well. I focus on historical Jesus, Paul the Apostle, that sort of thing. I generally teach three undergraduate courses a year and one graduate course.

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If I had $5 million, I would:  I know if I went home and said to my wife, “I’ve got $5 million,” she’d say, “Great, now who should we give it to?” I’d make sure we’d give some away to charities like Oxfam or Amnesty International.

With what’s left, I’d probably travel. I’ve never been to Australia and I adore cricket because of my British heritage, so I’d absolutely love to watch cricket in Australia. To watch England against Australia would be wonderful.

My first ever job: I was a paperboy when I was 11. It actually made my really fit. Before, I was never very good at sports, but as a result of the all the exercise delivering the papers, I got better at sports. Suddenly, I wasn’t brilliant at running, but I went from the end of the pack toward the front. It was transformative.

My dream job: I’d quite like to write for TV. I adore Doctor Who, the British sci-fi show. If I were talented enough to write an episode, it would be a dream job, to write a compelling adventure for the Doctor. I know it’s really boring and predicable, but I obviously really love what I do here right now.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: TV or film. Unless you’re the kind of person that never watches film, there’s always a good conversation to be had. Many academics are often curious about what books we’ve read recently, but the thing is our tastes vary so greatly. 

The best advice I ever received: I had a brilliant bit of advice from my graduate advisor who told me my doctoral thesis needed to be boring. His exact line was “Ph.D. theses are boring, bloody boring.” It was good advice because you’re proving to your examiners that you’re capable of doing great work, not attempting to solve all the problems in your field. You can always write something lively for a second book.

When I’m not at work, I like to: Enjoy a beer. I’m a real fan of American IPAs. When I came to America 10 years ago, a lot of my British friends teased I’d have to drink terrible American beer, but I discovered these wonderful craft brewers and I just love American IPAs. My favorite is Sisters of the Moon from Mother Earth Brewing. I don’t generally have writer’s block, but if I need a change of scenery, sometimes doing work with a nice pint takes the stress out of it.

Something most people don’t know about me: I once worked at a Disney store in Oxford and I so loved working there I nearly gave up the idea of academia. I think it was the idea of being in an environment where enthusiasm was encouraged. It was at the end of my doctorate work and sometimes when you’ve done nothing but study for years, you feel the need to do something different.