Biography
Dr. Kathleen Clare Waller writes novels and researches culture through the arts. Hailing from Lexington, Massachusetts, she is currently based between Basel and London with her family. She has previously lived and worked in Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, and Vienna where she taught literature, cultural studies, the arts, ethics, and epistemology to high school and university students. She has had a multifaceted and transformative body of work and career going from scholar, educator, to writer. Currently she is writing her intellectual pieces online, in a blog style approach, called The Matterhorn.
Instead of simply a foundation for further degree, I found that MALCS opened up new ways of thinking through an interdisciplinary nature... MALCS also helped me connect and become friends with all types of people in Hong Kong: musicians, journalists, lawyers, artists, and other teachers.
Interview with Dr. Kathleen Waller
Dr. Kathleen Waller completed her MALCS in 2011 and received her PhD at the Department of Comparative Literature, HKU in 2018. From scholar, educator, to writer, she has had a transformative and rich career experience. Over a period of four weeks we posted our short interview with her on Facebook and IG to discover her most recent endevour The Matterhorn: https://thematterhorn.substack.com/about/.
MALCS: What prompted you to apply to MALCS? What was your experience at MALCS as a student? What is your academic interest?
Dr. Waller: I applied to MALCS because I had always loved bringing together through different types of texts and deepening understanding through critical theory; I was also interested in doing a PhD in comparative literature. Instead of simply a foundation for the further degree, I found that the MALCS opened up new ways of thinking through an interdisciplinary nature. Although I had degrees in literature and art, I had never studied film and was blown away by the way the department helped us investigate film in a multifaceted way. This element as well as urban studies and post-structural theory became the groundwork for my doctoral thesis. The MALCS also helped me connect and become friends with all types of creative people in Hong Kong: musicians, journalists, lawyers, artists, and other teachers.
MALCS: What did you teach? And why were you interested in teaching?
Dr. Waller: I was teaching English and Theory of Knowledge (epistemology and applied ethics) at an international school during the MALCS and then became a TA and guest lecturer with your department during my PhD. I love helping students find their passions and their voice. I believe that everyone can write and also believe that we can all enjoy and find meaning in reading texts. IB English has become a sort of comparative literature, filled with ‘world literature’, multimedia texts, film, and even critical theory. After my degree, I returned as a school leader and curriculum developer to make the classroom experience richer through what I had learned. I also published books for teachers that further developed this enrichment. I had previously thought about an academic career, but returned to secondary schools in part to bring these ideas to students as well as to have time to devote to fiction writing, which I had discovered a love for during a ‘summer break’ from research.
MALCS: How did the idea of the Matterhorn come about? How did the concepts and themes transpire?
Dr. Waller: Due to several circumstances, I decided it was a good time to try out being a writer full time. I have a couple of book projects I’m working on, including a Vienna-based psychological thriller, but I’m still drawn to cultural studies through the arts. I thought I could do something unique to bring different texts into dialogue to create meaning whilst making theory and research more accessible for a wider audience. One could reduce it to a project of internationalism and intertextuality. It’s similar to the way I would go about planning my classroom curriculum through a conceptual framework. Except here, it becomes even more free. I’m expanding to a podcast and likely workshops and have already collaborated with some amazing people (like filmmaker and MALCS alum Gina Wong). I’m building a personal brand as a writer through ideas that I love, but the most important piece for me is connecting with my readers.
MALCS: Why did you choose the online blog style to write the Matterhorn?
Dr. Waller: In this Substack newsletter, I’m interested in developing a specific audience. The platform allows you to build through a business model that other journalists and authors have found success in. I wanted something that could be somewhat interactive and allow for multimedia, but also have a fairly simple interface where I could write longer pieces. Although I love social media, I want this to be a place of pause from the busy world online.
MALCS: What is the Matterhorn?
Dr. Waller: The Matterhorn investigates intersections of literature and art across times, cultures, mediums, and genres. Each week a new topic is explored through several textx with the aim to gain a better understanding of ourselves and our world.
Through investigating a topic from different angles, we develop intertexts. In the in-between through comparisons of human artistic responses to a real-world issue, we can approach understanding.
The Matterhorn is the Swiss German name for an iconic peak on the border of Switzerland and Italy; it means "The Peak in the Meadows". She is like an intertext herself - between two places, cultures, peoples... rising to create something new, observing new truths.
Visit The Matterhorn: https://thematterhorn.substack.com/about/
MALCS: What advice will you give to future MALCS students?
Dr. Waller: Be open to where this degree can take you. Try to avoid a fixed plan, because the ideas and people you will encounter can lead you somewhere new. Also, stay connected with your classmates and professors, or even guest speakers. In addition to great friendships, I’m collaborating with many of them now.
