"We feel like we're on a 'hard-working' vacation" - Travis Myers, LCC Faculty

Meet Dr. Travis Myers who is an Assistant Professor of Humanities at LCC International University!

Travis and his wife Susan arrived in Klaipėda in July 2022. Before that, for a brief season, they lived in Springfield, IL. For most of their married life of 27 years, Travis and Susan had lived in Minneapolis, MN but also in Chicagoland (where they met), Boston (their favorite!), Louisville, and the Republic of Cameroon. However, it has always been their intention from the time of their engagement to live and work in Eastern Europe. While they had to change their course for a while, they finally got to fulfill their dream and move to what they now call their hometown of Klaipėda and work at LCC.

We asked Travis about their experience of working at LCC and living in Klaipėda. He shares: “We find many aspects of LCC to be what we were searching, hoping, and praying for during the past few years, especially, in terms of its values, major areas of study, the constituency of student body and faculty/staff, student learning outcome goals, and institutional distinctiveness. We find Lithuania to be a culture in which we feel quite comfortable and delighted often while we realize we have so much more to learn, better understand and participate in as we live here longer. The cultural tapestry that has been woven here over the centuries incorporates influences from several regions with which we have some familiarity and personal interest.

We love being here! It’s a gift from God to finally be living in Europe, in the Baltic region which we’re gradually getting to know, in Lietuva, and in Klaipėda as our new “hometown.” (I tell people that if LCC was isolated on some small island in the ocean or in the middle of a large desert I’d still want to be a part of it because of its mission and our amazing student body. However, the fact that it is in Lithuania and in Klaipėda, specifically, is a much appreciated “bonus.”) Susan and I do feel like we’re on a ‘hard-working’ vacation by being here (and I know many of our students feel that way, as well). But to be clear, we feel called here by God for the meantime with no plans to leave.“

Travis teaches a few compulsory courses at LCC, so many of our students have a chance to meet him during their educational journey. And that is a blessing. So, we also asked him to introduce himself to his potential future students and this is what he had to say:

“My current two disciplines, “History of World Civilizations” as well as “Arts and Culture”, are adjacent, overlapping, and intersect.

The arts are a facet or component of societies.

History provides context for the art.

In addition, “the past is a foreign country” so intercultural skills are relevant for doing history as well as for appreciating art from various parts of the world. All our students have intercultural skills or else they wouldn’t be at LCC. They are naturally equipped for success in both of my current courses of instruction.

I want my students to experience an older person’s keen interest, even exuberance, perhaps, for each particular topic that I address in daily lessons. Academic rigor in the humanities does not need to be dispassionate; in fact, it should not be.

The global family of humankind is a fascinating subject from historical, intercultural, and fine arts perspectives. Each of the individuals comprising any group is made in the image of God and worthy of dignity. The quest for meaning, order, goodness, and beauty is universal. Proposed answers to the ultimate questions abound and have been embraced by the multitudes. As a Christian, the study of both history and art stirs my yearning for a better world, affirms my hope in its future arrival, and fuels my ambition to help improve personal lives and communities now.

Every civilization and culture is worthy of our interest, investigation, and appreciation since they are products of human agency and aspiration, creativity, and vigor. Every individual life is an extraordinary tale in its own right. We can learn lessons from the failures and successes, blind spots, and insights of other contemporaneous and past peoples. We are inspired by the sublime example of persons and peoples in certain other places and times.

We better understand the state/situation of the world today by a study of history, the arts, and other cultures. We see that throughout human history there has always been interaction, exchange, and mutual influence for the good, though often serious misunderstanding and conflict, as well. There is no difference or otherness too vast or complicated to overcome if the humble desire for mutuality and peace is there. We have the capacity to relate, coexist, and even thrive in harmony, though the rigorous translation is usually required and misunderstanding persists to some degree.

I want students to recognize that because there is “nothing new under the sun,” really, we can persevere – together – with resilience through hard things. Others have stepped bravely for the good into broken, even beaten-down parts of the world, and therefore so can we. I want my students to appropriately appreciate the human condition, to soberly accept the depth of the collective mess we’ve made, and our finitude, while also celebrating and wisely cultivating our grandeur and potential.”

We are proud to have staff and faculty, such as Travis Myers, who together with his wife Susan continues to serve the community here at LCC International University with a Christ-like mindset and integrity.

19 Apr 2023