The Adjunct Bringing Humanity to the Humanities Department
By: Oliver Pulcher, Art & Life Editor
Students taking United States History from 1865 to The Present (Hist 102) will likely have a professor by the name of Dr. Bob Ubriaco.
Dr. Ubriaco is an American History professor at St. Louis Community College – Meramec and began teaching at STLCC in 2012.
In that time, Dr. Ubriaco says he also taught an IDS course. “For years, I have also taught in the IDS program, where I taught a class on the 1960s. But the IDS program I think is slowly going away unfortunately,” he said.
According to Dr. Ubriaco, this is unfortunate as the program encourages students to get out of their comfort zone and learn something new, which Ubriaco thinks is incredibly important, especially now.
“I think that students should take courses that are outside of their comfort zone of main area of academic interest. Because often students just want to take classes in their academic interest, but I think that sometimes when we move out of our comfort zone, that’s when we not only experience learning but some personal growth as well,” he said.
He has experienced personal growth himself. Dr. Ubriaco said that he thinks the most remarkable thing about him is that he survived a head on collision while coming home on Oct. 26, 2007. “I was hit head on in the middle of the interstate while coming home from McKendree College. I’m actually a survivor of a head on, high-speed collision. I spent six weeks in a coma. And I am just happy to be alive and really happy to be here,” he said.
Dr. Ubriaco said that he identifies with the student body at Meramec, especially due to the fact that he is a first-generation college student. According to Dr. Ubriaco, neither his mother nor father went to college, and since he had no guidance or money when it came time for college, he opted to work instead.
“I was always a person that was interested in learning, but what I didn’t have is I didn’t have guidance and I didn’t have any money. So I went to work. After a while I realized that I didn’t want to be just like my father. Bruce Springsteen has a line where he says, ‘They bring you up to do like your daddy done.’ I didn’t want to be that individual,” said Dr. Ubriaco.
It was during this time that Dr. Ubriaco said he decided to go back to school at night while still working 50 hours a week. “I started at Thornton Community College at night while working construction during the day, and when I went to the community college I wanted to be taken very seriously. I always tell my students, take yourselves seriously; don’t sit there and say I’m just going to Meramec. Say I’m going to Meramec, be proud of that,” he said.
At this point, Dr. U b r i a c o said he left a well paying e l e c t r i c a l construction job for the world of a c a d e m i a . A f t e r T h o r n t o n , Dr. Ubriaco c o n t i n u e d on to Eastern Illinois University where he gained his Bachelor’s, Masters and Doctorate degrees. It was here that he received the Harry S. Truman Presidential Fellow Award.
Dr. Ubriaco said the he has taught at nearly every school in the St. Louis area, however he believes that Meramec is special. “I personally believe that St. Louis Community College at Meramec is clearly without a doubt the best community college in the St. Louis Area and I believe that it provides students with a very firm foundation in which to pursue higher education,” he said.
