Meet the Faculty: Jacqueline Cavalier

Courses Currently Teaching

United States History Since 1865
History of Women
Pittsburgh: Past, Present and Future
Western Civilization Since 1500

 

Most Memorable CCAC Experience

There are really too many to name; however, one of my favorites was working with Dr. Evon Walters and the team of PTK students charged with the Milton Hall rotunda renovation a few years ago. Having walked through that bland, cold, concrete area many, many times during my tenure at CCAC, I always had a vision for what it could be-so to have a part in turning that vision into reality was very special.

 

Why I Teach What I Teach

I teach history because I really love it! I think it is exciting, and I try to share my enthusiasm for the subject matter with each student in every course under my instruction. There are many clichés about "the past repeating itself," and so on; however, I teach history because history teaches us about people, about change, about the society in which we live. And because we all have a history, it teaches us about ourselves-the good, the bad, and the in-between. 

 

Something People Might Not Know About Me

I took the long road (10 years) to earn a bachelor's degree, and before deciding what I wanted to be when I finally grew up, I had several other jobs, including selling used cars and bartending. I also owned my own business, a dance school. 

 

Favorite Quote

"The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then-to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."  -T.H. White, "The Once and Future King"