Until May, Dr. Joe Falocco was a full-time lecturer at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College in Erie, PA. Before that he worked at Rockford College in Rockford, IL.

Falocco’s wife, Missy Barnes, works at Catawba College, and understandably he’d been chomping at the bit to get a tenure-track position in this area.

So when Falocco saw an opening at Livingstone College, he jumped at the chance to apply.

“There really aren’t many schools within driving distance, so I was happy to get a job at Livingstone,” Falocco said. “I find that the students at Livingstone are more enthusiastic and less jaded than those I have taught at majority institutions.”

Falocco, an Associate Professor of English, was among several new faculty members hired at the beginning of the 2010-2011 semester. He has a Bachelor’s degree in acting from DePaul University’s School for New Learning, an MFA in performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a Ph.D. in English (with concentrations in renaissance and dramatic literature) from UNC-Greensboro.

He teaches World Literature I, an Upper-Level course on Milton that focuses exclusively on Paradise Lost, Fundamentals of Speech, and two sections of Freshman Composition.

Things are going well for Falocco at Livingstone, but if he could be “President for a Day,” he said he’d reduce faculty teaching loads.

“A lower teaching load would allow me to pursue my research agenda,” Falocco said. “While this is, of course, a teaching institution, a four-four load (as opposed to a five-four load) would be more typical of other Liberal Arts colleges and would give us all some time for research.” Falocco’s first book, Reimagining Shakespeare’s Playhouse: Early Modern Staging Conventions in the Twentieth Century, was recently published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd.

But Falocco accepts the fact that heavy loads are sometimes par for the course at small

colleges and universities and is glad to work at Livingstone nonetheless.

“It’s a great experience,” Falocco said. “The challenges we face here are unique, but so are the rewards.”

Falocco’s teaching career dates to August 2000, when he was an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR, and taught Beginning Acting, Voice and Movement for Actors I and II, Dialects through IPA, Acting Shakespeare,

Stage Combat and Motion Picture Appreciation. At Arkansas State University, Falocco also worked with the English Department to develop a cross-disciplinary approach to the teaching of Shakespeare, and he participated in student recruitment efforts with an eye towards increasing the Theatre Department’s cultural diversity.

He has also taught at Catawba College and UNC-Greensboro.

Teaching is obviously a big part of Falocco’s life. But so is acting.

He’s a member of Actors’ Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. For six months in 1997 he performed in a theme park stunt show in Italy.

“I performed in the Scuola di Polizia Stunt Spectacular at Mirabiliandia, south of Ravenna,” Falocco explained. “They needed an actor who did stunts and spoke Italian with an American accent. There aren’t that many of us, so I could name my price. It was the most money I was ever paid for theatrical work, although it had the least artistic merit of any project I ever undertook. But I got to live on the Adriatic Riviera in the summer, so it wasn’t all bad.”

Falocco has worked as an actor at Shakespeare Festivals in Charlotte, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. He once spent a year on tour with the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express. And this past summer he performed the one-man show, Shakespeare’s Villains, at Lee Street Theatre in Salisbury.

Years ago, before he began teaching, Falocco was national Manager of Food and Beverage marketing for Marriott Hotels and Resorts.

“In that capacity I worked with the Italian Trade Commission in organizing national Italian wine promotions at our hotels,” he said. “I already had significant wine experience from my years as a waiter and from assisting my uncle in Italy to make Prosecco. I still know something about Italian wine, but the business has changed significantly since my professional involvement in that field.”

When Falocco isn’t teaching or spending time with his wife, Missy, he enjoys a good book. He’s currently re-reading the novels on his “Victorian Prose and Poetry” syllabus for the Spring 2011 semester.

A die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, Falocco wasn’t happy when the New York Yankees made it to the ALCS (American League Championship Series), yet was ecstatic when they were eliminated by The Texas Rangers.