WHO’s WHO @VCU: Meet Mark Wood

Mark Wood, coordinator of the religious studies department, said he has always been a funny guy. When he was in high school, he worked at a hot dog stand called the Happy Hound.

“I used to fake like I was getting shot.” Wood said. “I would tell the customers, ‘Look I’m getting shot,’ and when my friends would come by, I would tell them to pretend like they were shooting me. I would put the ketchup under my arm, spray the wall behind me and fall dramatically.”

Today, Wood still has that “little boy quality,” said Jonathan Waybright, a close friend of Wood and adjunct professor for the School of World Studies.

“He is very funny and comical,” Waybright said. “When he first came to the college and was on his interview, he was asked if he had special religious preference, to which Mark replied, “Northern Californian.”

Students also seem find him humorous. Rachel Bobbitt, a senior religious studies major, has taken several of Wood’s classes and is also one of his teaching assistants.

“His humor reaches people very well,” Bobbit said. “You never have that feeling that he is talking down to you, and it helps people feel at ease.”

Part of that ease comes from what some, like fellow religious studies professor Charles Demm, call his ‘West Coast’ attitude.

“His attitude is a very refreshing change to a city that is sometimes too stuffy and genteel,” Demm said.

That ‘West Coast’ attitude, Wood said, comes from the fact that he is from Northern California. He said living near Berkeley and San Francisco shaped his beliefs and values.

“I became interested at an early age in world religions because the Bay Area was very multicultural, so it was extremely normal to be around it,” he said. “There was lots of tolerance of religions and political beliefs.”

Wood spent much of his childhood in a neighborhood bookstore, Shambala Books, reading about world religions and beliefs. That experience, he said, developed the same interests he has today.

“I believe if we are all going to live well together, it is essential to learn together and learn to live well together,” Wood said. “We must discover what is common to us, what our essential values are, what we all share.”

Still, he didn’t always aspire to become a professor. As a child, he wanted to become a pilot or an astronaut after he watched the Apollo missions attempt to land on the moon, he said.

But a few inspiring professors at the California State University, Chico, encouraged Wood to become a professor. Wood then decided to further pursue his education and received his doctorate from Syracuse University in 1994.

“I wanted to be able to have a secure teaching position, and I knew I needed a Ph.D. to do this,” Wood said.

Today, his colleagues say he is an important part of the department and an excellent teacher.

Clifford Edwards, professor of religious studies, said Wood is respected at the university.

“I think he is admired for all his energy and good will,” Edwards said.

Waybright said he agrees with Edwards’ sentiment.

“Mark has been our chair for a couple of years, and he is very diligent, a strong leader and very interested in moving students,” Waybright said.

Bobbitt said she agrees with the professors’ admiration for Wood.

“He is very beloved,” she said. “You drop his name anywhere, and you just get praises back.”

Bobbitt also said Wood is a very influential professor. She first took one of Wood’s classes as an elective, but left the class a changed person, she said.

“He changed the way I thought, the way I lived my life, the direction of my life and my career goals. He made me question everything,” Bobbitt said. “He is an amazing teacher. I was not a religious studies major until I took his class.”

Wood said he likes to combine classroom lectures with community interaction. In the past, he and his students worked with homeless agencies, the local Boys and Girls clubs, the Fan Free Clinic and the Sierra Club.

“I feel it helps to make real the issues we are talking about in class, and it helps the students network too,” Wood said.

Wood, who came to VCU in 1997, said teaching is about creating a sense of community in the classroom as well as encouraging student involvement in class.

Waybright said the professor has a reputation for keeping students engaged.

“He really invites his students to participate in classes,” Waybright said.

Demm agreed saying his teaching method is “invaluable.”

“He can turn the classroom into a space in which real dialogue and encounter occur between differing views and perspectives, something students will need in the real world,” Demm said.