Graduate student and English 1010 teacher Hunter Augeri is interested in spatial theory and the role location plays in literature, which has lent itself to his particular interest in the City of Laramie as a suburban place and the study he is engaged in on campus.
Augeri is originally from New Jersey and has spent the majority of his life living on the east coast of the U.S. Having begun his post-secondary education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, he took his time transitioning into adult life.
Between his college graduation in 2010 to his current residency in Laramie, he took time to travel to places such as Greece, Turkey and New York to search for his passion. Augeri feels it was a defining time that allowed him to explore his options before settling on a clear-cut path.
“For me, I really wanted to feel completely prepared before going into a program and wanted to have my own life experience before I pursued another two to six years of my life,” Augeri said. “I figured, why not know exactly what I want to do?”
This is a question that faces many college students who don’t know which path to take in their pursuit of higher education. However, Augeri hopes to lend his perspectives to incoming students so that they may help them find ways to interact with their new collegiate and Wyoming surroundings.
“The idea for me is to ask people to step out of the confines of the page or text and really try and adapt theories to all parts of their lives,” Augeri said. “Ultimately, I think this is the goal of college, right? That you don’t just think in a small bubble of ‘I learned this one thing and it applies only to this,’ but that when you take an anthropology class, it changes how you travel and think of people.”
Augeri also spoke of his plan to teach an English 2020 class next year if he has the opportunity to go beyond the realm of English 1010. The course, which is in its proposition phase, deals with thinking of and viewing the City of Laramie as a text and questioning it in that manner.
“What’s nice here [in Laramie] is that the interaction with the city and the campus has a really good harmony,” Augeri said.
Tayo Basquiat, a fellow graduate student studying creative writing, finds it interesting how Augeri conceptualizes Laramie as a suburban space that can be interacted with by people both on and off campus, especially because in his opinion, Laramie is somewhat rural.
“He’s so curious about odd things and curious about people and the area in general that I think he connects,” Basquiat said. “I don’t think he’s intimidated by maybe a more insular culture that you find in Wyoming or in rural places, and he’s just curious and driven by curiosity. That makes everybody subject for conversation or an idea or possibility.”
Basquiat’s observation of the curiosity that drives Augeri in not only his studies but his creation of connections with people and places is also found in the way the Augeri approaches his work and life in general. Augeri constantly finds ways to question the ways in which all people live.
“When you’re 18 and 19, your world is so small, in a way,” said Augeri. “College is supposed to be a space where you feel comfortable to challenge the things you’ve always thought.”
As Augeri continues his research and teaching at the university, he hopes to help students start questioning values and biases so that they can become more in tune with their surroundings. With the suburban space he deals within Laramie, he feels as though it will lend itself easily to the individual growth of all those who interact with the town.
