Alumni Spotlight: Jonathan Marrow (COL '18)
About Jonathan
Name, school, year, degrees
Jonathan Marrow, B.A. Georgeown University (COL' 18), MPhil in U.S. History Cambridge University 2023, MSt, Jewish Studies, Oxford University, 2024
Where in the world are you?
I live in Cambridge, England where I do my PhD but am currently in Washington, DC through January on a PhD research fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum downtown… but am regularly abroad, in the past year I’ve lived in Munich for a month, done research at archives or museums in Berlin, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Cracow, Berchtesgaden, Los Angeles, New York, while teaching in New Jersey and the UK.
What are you up to now?
PhD in History at Cambridge University, focus on American History and Holocaust memory, my dissertation looks at the development of American Holocaust tourism, that is, Americans traveling to Europe to see concentration camps, and other sites related to the Nazis, as part of the larger (controversial) phenomenon of ‘dark tourism’.
What have you been up to/what are some career highlights you've had?
Teaching high school in Chattanooga, TN was a real breath of fresh air and a great time to get not only good experience as a history teacher but experience a whole new culture, cuisine, outdoor environment, and more.
Teaching undergraduates at Cambridge, which is very much different from your usual American TA-ing, or small-groups seminars. Most undergraduate teaching outside of lectures at Cambridge and Oxford takes place in small one-on-one or one-on-two sessions between professors (on in this case, me) and undergraduates for an hour each week, where students write a several thousand word essay and then you get to discuss it with them and challenge them on it. It’s a great deal of work for both student and instructor and very intense (the amount of reading they have to do, and writing, and being essentially grilled for an hour each week) but it leads to incredible conversations and much deeper learning, for both instructor and instructed!
I also co-organized a conference in Cambridge two years with a fellow PhD student on the contemporary threats to Holocaust memorial sites whether from the environment, digital misinformation, or political partisanship. We got to bring together folks working on these topics from across half a dozen countries, from the Chicago to Kyiv, Ukraine, and it was so enriching to get to engage with these different
What's something that you've become passionate about since graduating Georgetown not related to your career?
Hosting dinner parties for friends, shooting clay pigeon, and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
Georgetown
What was your favorite class that you took at Georgetown?
Two Church Councils: Trent and Vatican II with the late Fr. John W. O’Malley, SJ. A legendary class which got me to think about faith, rhetoric, organizations, and historical change, from a nonagenarian Jesuit historian at the top of his game, whose many brilliant lines I still carry with me: “Style does not just reveal substance. Style IS substance.” A great reminder to me, as a Jewish student, that you don’t need to be of a certain faith or have personal relationship with a certain history, to find it so fascinating and take so many valuable lessons from it.
I recommend everyone who can read any of his books, perhaps especially “What Happens at Vatican II” and “Four Cultures of West.”
What was your favorite spot on campus?
The steps below Lau, with a view leading up to Healy. There is something so magical about that sight of Healy Hall, majestic and ancient, accessible by steps waiting to be climbed. In four years, I never walked up or down those stairs without taking a moment to pause and take it in.
The Philodemic
What does the Philodemic mean to you?
The core of my Georgetown experience; a group steeped in the history of the university; a place where I was able to test and form and question ideas with other brilliant and passionate young people.
Whom was the Philodemician you most admired and what did you learn from them?
My best friend Richie Mullaney (COL’18), who tried (perhaps unsuccessfully) to teach me to make a few great points rather than many small ones, to slow my speeches down, really listen to what everyone is saying, and not just to go for the biggest laugh. I’m still trying to listen to him, after all these years.
What kept you involved in the Philodemic as a member?
The buzz in and outside of the room as a debate was waiting to start, ascending the steps of Healy on a dusky Thursday night, the atmosphere of a packed and crowded debate, the knocking, the huzzahs, the house rules, the secrets of the induction ceremony, the delivery of a great inside joke in a speech, the appearance by a member you haven’t seen in years, the toasts at Merrick, writing quick and hurried notes on the program to your friend sitting next to you, and always the nerve-wracking excitement of hearing the president say your name and stepping up to give a speech.
Career and mentorship
How did your time in Philodemic influence your career path?
I knew I wanted to spend a lot of my days debating, reading, researching, and talking, rather than behind a laptop. As a teacher and PhD Student, I get to do a lot of this, (very unfortunately for my students, there’s no 3 minute timer on my speeches.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve gotten in your career?
From my old professor, Fr. O’Malley, when I was starting a job and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first: “The Italians have a phrase: L’appetito vien mangiano… sometimes, the appetite only comes with the eating!”
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