Love of history takes Mark Lempke ’01 from B-P to Singapore
Mark Lempke, a 2001 Broadalbin-Perth grad, recalls his time at B-P fondly. In fact, it was during his high school years that Mark says his love of history began. Today, Mark teaches history classes in Singapore as part of the University at Buffalo’s international education services.
After Mark graduated from B-P in 2001, he attended Houghton College, a small liberal arts school of 1,300 students in Western New York. He says he enjoyed the benefits of a small-school environment.
Mark with 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern, who was the subject of his dissertation.
“Because there were so few distractions, everybody—students and faculty alike—had the time and interest to invest in one another,” he says. “But at the same time, I also benefitted from spending three semesters in London.”
Through an honors program at Houghton, Mark spent much of his freshman year in London. There, he learned about the history, philosophy, literature and arts of Western culture, using the city itself as a resource.
“To learn about the Middle Ages, we might go to a number of cathedrals, look at some paintings in the National Gallery, then take a look at some artifacts at the British Museum. Experiences like this enhanced the love of history I picked up at Broadalbin-Perth,” he says.
Mark pursued his study of history as a graduate student at the University of Buffalo (UB).
“As I like to joke, I ended up studying two things you can’t really talk about in polite company—politics and religion. In this case, I studied their role in 1970s America,” he said.
While Mark (third from right) was finishing his dissertation, he had the opportunity to visit India with a University at Buffalo delegation during the 2009-10 holiday break. The group visited key historical sites like the Taj Mahal while learning how they could better teach South Asian history in their classes.
This led to his doctoral dissertation on George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign, during which he interviewed McGovern as part of his research. After successfully defending his dissertation and earning a Ph.D. in history this past March, Mark says he was “lucky” to be able to stay with UB, and is now teaching history classes as part of its college program in Singapore.
“It’s a great experience, but it can be a challenge as well—the students are trained to sit and listen to their professors lecture, so I have to encourage them to speak up, raise questions and take risks when participating in class,” says Mark.”It has been a very rewarding time, so far.”
Because Mark’s travels have done so much to shape his life so far, he encourages current B-P students to follow in his footsteps.
“I would encourage B-P students to travel abroad when good opportunities arise. There’s no experience like it. It lets you see the world through a different set of eyes and engage with people who hold a different set of assumptions,” he says.
Mark says he learned many important lessons at B-P, especially through 10 years of participating in Odyssey of the Mind.
During their senior year, Mark (second from right) and his friends dressed as The Beatles for Halloween.
“Odyssey of the Mind would pose some difficult problems, but over the years, it taught my teams to solve problems creatively and to tailor solutions to our strengths,” he says. “[B-P’s] Odyssey program definitely let us be unconventional, while still encouraging us to come together as a team.”
Mark also considers himself fortunate to have had a long line of great social studies teachers at B-P who influenced his decision to pursue history as a career, but one teacher stands out.
“Mr. [Jeff] Jennings always kept the classes engaging,” he says. “Whether it was through questioning, role play, or Jeopardy games, he could always find ways to capture our attention and get us to appreciate the civilizations that came before us.”
Of course, Mark says he’d be remiss if he didn’t also mention retired music teacher Maureen Mikucki. Mark says he and his friends were constantly singing in high school and it was Mrs. Mikucki who skillfully led them both inside and outside of school through concert choir, vocal ensemble and the St. Joseph’s church choir.
Although the miles are great between them, Mark and his family continue to be very close. His brother Matthew graduated from B-P in 2002 and his mom still works as the school nurse at The Learning Community.
“Having my mom work in my school had good points—she was always there for support,” he says. “But it also meant that I couldn’t get away with very much. Sooner or later, if I did something off kilter, she’d hear about it!”