John Haberstroh took an unexpected path to academia, starting his career as a cross country, track and field, and soccer coach at his alma mater, Bishop Montgomery High School, in Torrance, California. With encouragement from mentors, the avid marathoner stayed the course and earned a master’s and Ph.D. in history from California State University, Long Beach and the University of California, Riverside, respectively. Whether in K-12 or higher education, one thing endured — his passion for student involvement and success.
As an assistant professor-in-residence at UNLV since last fall, he strives to bring ancient history to life through interactive, engaging lessons while also helping students find life-changing learning experiences outside the classroom.
He makes time for guilty pleasures, too. Though he looks the part of professor, he’s a self-described metalhead who rocks out every chance he gets.
What inspired you to get into your field?
I was a history major as an undergrad — a U.S. historian. I took one Greek history class and was hooked. The professor in that class was my main mentor for many years. Another thing that got me into this was study abroad. After that first class, that same winter break I went on a four-week study abroad trip in Greece and Turkey. It changed my life. When you see it in person, and you’re walking all over these places that you read about, and you’re experiencing a completely different culture and part of the world, it lights up your eyes.
What drew you to UNLV?
I had a bit of a connection to Las Vegas before applying for this job. My wife completed a master’s degree in special education at UNLV 10 years ago when she was doing the Teach for America program. We lived here for about two years while she did the program. We went back to California when I worked on my Ph.D. My wife said, “Why don’t you just get a job at UNLV?” At the time there were no openings. Fast forward nine years, and there’s an opening in the history department at UNLV in ancient history. It was a no-brainer; drop everything and apply.
What breakthrough in your field do you wish you had made?
That’s kind of hard in my field; we’ve been studying this stuff for 2,500 years already!
I hope to make big breakthroughs on two things. First, to show that ancient Greek history is more complicated than everyone likes to think, and second, I’m invested in making ancient Greek history more accessible to the public.
I want to teach people how to get involved and study this on their own. They don’t have to be a specialist to enjoy these histories, stories, and cultures.
Outside of your research, what are you passionate about?
I’m really passionate about teaching and helping students discover themselves through discovering the ancient world. Studying history allows us to look at ourselves in a different way. I’m very passionate about the kinds of in-class experiences I create. I try to be dynamic and engaging as much as possible. Ultimately, I want to hear what they have to say. I’m interested in their interpretations and how they approach these problems in ancient texts. I hope to have a lot of fun in class.
I’m also passionate about my current obsession — Olympic Team Handball. It’s a big sport in Europe, and the U.S. Men’s Team had a decent showing at this year’s World Championships. I have Olympic dreams of my own, but that’s another story.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I’m a metalhead at heart. My music interests are quite out there. I may not look like it by the way I dress and talk, but I know how to get in touch with my inner rock and roll.
Favorite bands?
I’m into a lot of progressive metal, so bands like Between the Buried in Me, Dream Theater, and Haken. Uneven Structure is another awesome one. Persefone is one of my favorite bands of all time. There’s a new album from a band named Riverside. It’s just good stuff. It’s dynamic. The emotion they convey through music is always interesting.
Now that my Ph.D. is done, I’m trying to get back into playing bass regularly. My wife bought me an electronic drum kit for my last birthday, so now I can get some energy out on that.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
When people drive like maniacs, changing lanes without turn signals. It’s common courtesy; it costs you nothing to do that. All last semester I rode my bike to UNLV. I had a couple close calls.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Delicious food; I like to think of myself as a foodie. I really love cooking. I’ve never met a donut I didn’t like. I love to cook Indian cuisine and Greek food, kind of Mediterranean stuff.
Which is more exciting: the start of fall semester or end of spring semester?
I’ll go with start of fall. There’s so much more buzz around the fall. Spring commencement is great, and that’s a special moment for graduating seniors. When other students come back in the fall, they’re refreshed. There’s a kind of eagerness among faculty, staff and students. Everyone’s ready to get back to it.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I had no idea that a history Ph.D. was in my future until I was an adult. When I was a kid in middle school, I thought architecture seemed cool. My brother took a class in high school, and I saw what he was doing (now he is literally a rocket scientist). I started playing around, drawing my own things. I never really liked reading as a kid. It took me 20 years to find out that I liked reading ancient history. Growing up I was much more interested in sports and drawing and the outside world. It’s funny how things turn out.
Tell us about the nonprofit you work with.
The is a nonprofit that does public programming related to ancient studies. We have tons of live events, reading groups, book clubs. We also work on making accessible teaching materials for K-12 instructors. I’m the leader of the access team, and we make open access resources for the public. We’ve created a huge database of online resources, mostly digital humanities projects, virtual museum tours, and lesson plans for teachers – resources to help them study ancient languages and cultures.
So, what’s next?
Study abroad is on my radar to do in the near future. I’ve been to Greece many times. I lived in Greece for eight months on a fellowship for graduate students. They took us to every site you can imagine during my Ph.D. program. It was just an amazing experience.
I would love to take some UNLV students. It would be a dream come true and a way for me to pay it forward and to give students the same potentially life-changing experience that I had.
