Dwain Edgar Manske is a former college professor with 30 years of teaching experience. He has been retired since 1992, prior to which he was a professor of American literature at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Dwain Edgar Manske’s responsibilities here included literary research, delivering lectures and seminars, and mentoring students.
In his research, Dr. Manske focused on prominent contemporary and historical American authors, historical contexts of theirs works, and recurring themes, including individualism, freedom, the frontier, and cultural shifts. He published a number of articles on his scholarly work, and gave lectures on culturally-relevant novels and poems. In addition, he lent his expertise to undergraduate and graduate students, supporting their studies and research.
Dwain Edgar Manske is also the author of Alley of Darkness: And Other Stories, published by the University of Texas at Austin in 1959. He holds a PhD in English from the University of Texas and continues to enjoys following its football team.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Go to my book company that specializes in Western American history and catalogue and repair things.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I think it through, put the process to paper and build from it.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Politics.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Treadmill activity for 30 minutes.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t do anything wrong.
Tell us something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on.
People are becoming too reliant on AI.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Eat a healthy breakfast.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Listen to classical music.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Knowledge and research. Helps teach and provide the knowledge to help inform.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Learning from mistakes, with the basics of understanding the “why” and reason for moving forward with the right decisions vs. not-well-thought-out decisions.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Not a software person at my age, but I use the search engines to research and buy things on eBay.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
“The Great Gatsby” book.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Murder mysterious.
Key learnings
- Research and knowledge are key to growing a business or advancing your career.
- The first step of bringing ideas to life is thinking them through and creating a blueprint to build from.
- Exercise boosts productivity
- Eating health is something everyone should do.