A cool guy indeed
I didn't know it before I interviewed him, but I actually remember watching him at last year's lip sync. His group won housing in Garman with their ribbon dance to the Journey song, "Don't Stop Believing." His group was probably one of the only lip sync groups in all of Amherst history to win without cross dressing. This is because it was not only very well choreographed, but the three performers (including Maciak) were decked out in '80s work-out gear and executed the beautiful-yet somewhat ridiculous-dance seriously and without cracking a smile. This hilariously entertaining idea and execution could only be done by truly clever and "cool" people.
One of Maciak's friends, Sarah Kooperkamp '05, remembers talking to Maciak on one of their first days on campus. "Phil was talking about how much fun Amherst was, and how much he liked his classes, and I replied, 'Indeed.' Phil told me that he was so glad to be in a place where he had friends who would reply 'indeed,'" she said.
Maciak appreciates the subtle, yet truly important things about the College. He is articulate, funny, very easy to talk to, open-minded and above all very "cool." This was confirmed when we were able to comfortably discuss our Stearns Dormitory memories, and he concluded that it truly was the perfect freshman experience. However, what really makes Phil so "cool" are his many interests and his ability to engage you with them. He had me laughing about his "dominating" intramural softball team, the "Winsalots," and he made my mouth drop when he told me about his decision to learn Russian so he could better understand Russian literature and the huge novels that go along with it. And when we discussed Richard Wilbur's recent poetry reading on campus, he reminded me of "how wonderful it is to feel a part of something great at Amherst."
Googling "English"
Maciak "lived a suburban existence" in his hometown, Pittsburgh, where he was born and raised as an only child and attended a tiny Catholic school. "People get down on Pittsburgh, but I still love it. In fact, it's my favorite city in the world," Maciak said. Despite Maciak's pride for his hometown, he knew that he wanted to go somewhere else for college. "The college guidance counselor made everyone apply to three basic colleges including University of Pittsburgh and Notre Dame," he said.
However, Maciak decided to research other options beyond these three standards. He knew he wanted to go to a college with a superior English department, so he Googled "English" and discovered Amherst. He was not only attracted to the highly praised English department, but he also liked the open curriculum because he really didn't want to have to take math in college. Maciak also liked Amherst because he loves New England and believes that "small schools are hard to beat." However, the legendary English department is what really sold the college to Maciak. "The English department of the '50s and '60s was a big deal, and the College is touching down on the end of a golden age," said Maciak. "There are still many professors that were a part of that, and I'm glad that I could be a part of it too."
Campus media
Before he came to college, Maciak knew he wanted his own radio show, and since freshman year Maciak has been a devoted DJ on WAMH. He hosted professor talk shows and enjoyed playing contemporary rock, jazz, R&B and '60's Motown. Maciak also played the guitar and bass during his sophomore year with the AC Adapters. In fact, one of his greatest memories of Amherst is playing at an ASA party in Porter House.
Maciak was very involved with the humor section of the Indicator and wrote in every issue for a year. During the first semester of his sophomore year, Maciak was the editor-in-chief of the magazine, and this stirred up a desire to start his own magazine, the Meredith. Since high school, Maciak had always wanted to start a humor magazine, and it was really important to him when he was looking at colleges. The first "Meredith" came out his junior year, and the production of the magazine was generously funded by the English department. He really wanted it to be a good-looking magazine with a nice cover and a well-designed interior. At first Maciak admits there were "a few misfits, but with each issue, we got to understand the process better and better."
Maciak's vision was to have a humor magazine that was not only smart and clever but was also well written. Starting this magazine and putting everything together was definitely not Maciak's only great accomplishment at Amherst, but he personally feels it was one of the most memorable parts of his Amherst experience.
Passion for English
After considering American Studies and political science as majors, Maciak declared English. He loved talking about books and writing, so studying English had always made sense. He got into writing in high school, entered contests and wrote for the newspaper. "I basically wrote my entire senior yearbook," said Maciak. "In small schools there is one kid for everything. There's the football player, the dancer and the science kid. I was just the kid who could write the yearbook."
In his sophomore year at Amherst, Maciak's love for English was matched by his newfound curiosity for Russian literature. He stumbled into Russian partly because "there is just something about the Russian department that makes it really good at sucking people in." He really liked topic-oriented classes, or classes built around an identity, and he was particularly struck by the class Strange Russian Writers taught by Professor of Russian Stanley Rabinowitz. He enjoyed Russian literature so much that he even took an intense summer language program before his junior year to learn the language, and at one point Maciak considered double majoring in Russian and English. While he didn't double major, he finally decided to incorporate his knowledge and curiosity of Russian literature into his thesis.
For his thesis, Maciak compared 20th century novels including the American novel Underworld by Don DeLillo and the Russian novel Petersburg by Andrey Bely. He wanted to focus on apocalyptic literature themed on fear-based cultural anxieties. His book selections helped him explore this idea: Underworld is about America during the Cold War and Petersburg is about Russia during the Russian Revolution. "I wanted to write something lively, something really intense, something I could really sink my teeth into," Maciak said. "Thinking about these ideas and writing my thesis was by far my top academic experience."
I asked Maciak if he had any regrets about his four years here. Maciak said he wishes he had taken more sociology courses because he really liked a class he took with Associate Professor of Sociology Ronald Lembo. He also wishes he participated more in the traditions of the College. For example, he hasn't gone to many Homecoming games. "Maybe I would have liked being a tour guide because I'm totally goo-goo over the school, but honestly that's it," Maciak said. "I really don't want to go on and give the wrong impression. I don't have any serious regrets about my time here."
Talking about books
Next year, Maciak will attend the Masters Program for English at the University of Virginia. He picked UVA because he wanted to go to a school with traditions, and he hopes that this program will prepare him for an easier transition to graduate school. He plans to use this education to enter "the horrific college professor job market." Depending on how the next couple of years go, Maciak might decide to stay at UVA, but for now, his plan is to return to New England.
"There is nothing I'd rather do for a profession than talk about novels," said Maciak. "I love writing, and more specifically I love American novels. I love the ideas of American novels and how ambiguous they are." Before deciding to become a professor, Maciak thought about journalism and even teaching junior high, but "only in a vacuum." He doesn't want to have to be a disciplinarian, and he really just wants a job where he can "talk to people who are interested in the same things he is."
Maciak's enthusiasm for discussing novels was especially noticed by his thesis advisor, Professor of English and Russian Dale Peterson. Peterson looked forward to his weekly discussions about books with Maciak, and Maciak even convinced him to read the massive Underworld.
"Hearing Phil talk about how writers could be imagined to be talking to one another is so pleasurable that one wishes they could actually have had the pleasure of those imaginary conversations themselves," Peterson said. "Everyone who knows Phil knows that he has never lost his appetite for really big novels." He continued, "They know that because his love for literature cannot be contained within classroom walls. Phil's enthusiasm for what he's reading is contagious and he is a gifted conversationalist whose witty and entertaining book talk has helped make a community out of our English majors." The combination of Maciak's English prowess and "coolness" will make him a great English professor in the future-indeed.