At Eureka College, there are several professors that are originally from other regions outside the Midwest who have moved to Illinois to contribute to the campus community.
Dr. Jonathan Cummins is a professor at Eureka College who teaches U.S. and Environmental History. He started teaching at Eureka in the fall of 2023. He was born in the Bay Area of San Jose, California, but spent most of his life in Reno, Nevada.
There were a lot of changes that Cummins faced when moving from the West Coast to the Midwest. Many things are different between these two regions of the United States including food, weather, culture, and more.
Cummins has observed with food was it is saltier in the West and coffee is stronger, bitter, and darker where he was from whereas the Midwest has more mild coffee.
Another distinction that Cummins has noticed is the climate. In the West it was hot, dry, and almost never rained and in Illinois it rains a lot and is humid. Although it is humid in the Midwest, Cummins appreciates that his family can actually go spend time outside during the summer because in the West there is a fire season.
“We had summers where we did not go outside at all because of the smoke, and it was not safe to go outside,” said Cummins.
Cummins states that the fire season is something he does not miss from the West. However, one thing that Cummins does miss from the West is the view of the mountains.
One difference that Cummins really likes is the close knit culture of the Midwest. Cummins states that before teaching at Eureka, he attended and taught part time at big universities in the West. At these universities there were tens of thousands of students at big universities and did not get to build relationships or really get to know anyone.
Cummins enjoys the smaller campuses and actually getting to know people. “Knowing people, is a super unique thing about a small college and students will take multiple classes with you. It’s a great environment. I think as higher education goes, it’s ideal and it is really neat to have the opportunity to really know people and at a small college,” said Cummins.
Cummins is very thankful for the opportunity that he has at Eureka College and to get to know the faculty, staff, and students better.
Another professor that is from out of state is Dr. David Eisenberg. He has been a professor at Eureka College for ten years and is an associate professor of political science. He grew up and lived most of his life in Mount Kisco, which is just north of New York City.
Eisenberg knew that he wanted to teach at a small liberal arts college and Eureka College had what he was looking for. Through Eureka College, Eisenberg is able to have some flexibility in what he teaches and can teach classes that he would not be able to elsewhere.
“I’m given a lot of freedom in terms of what I teach and how I teach, and I very much value that because that’s actually pretty rare these days out there in academia,” said Eisenberg.
He enjoys teaching rare classes that are not available for students to take at most other colleges.
After Eisenberg moved to Washington, IL to teach at Eureka College, he has observed some contrasts between the Northeast and the Midwest.
The differences between the temperature in both the Northeast and Midwest. Even though New York is further north and snows more, Illinois gets colder in the winter partly due to the windchill.
He states that in the Midwest, one has to travel farther to acquire food that can be found just walking around in New York. “In terms of finding good sushi or good Thai food, it is hard to find here,” said Eisenberg.
Although Eisenberg misses the convenience of a large variety of food at his fingertips in New York cuisine, he appreciates the farmers in the Midwest that give access to local meat, vegetables, and eggs.
Eisenberg has also noticed the sense of community the Midwest culture values more than other places.
“There’s a sense of community here…there’s a strong inclination to help others, whether it’s giving to charity, volunteering, or just helping your community,” said Eisenberg.
He states that there are good and bad people everywhere, but the closeness of the culture seems more prevalent in the Midwest.
