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Home > News & Events > CLA Today Archive > Spring 2006 : John Munson

John Munson

Class of ’03 (Asian languages and literatures)

As a third-generation Gopher, I thought hard about how to tell this story of my University experience. Should I talk about the photos of Grandpa on the steps of Northrop in his marching band uniform? Should I talk about Dad giving up the family farm to get a degree in soil science so he could have a greater impact on the Midwest's agricultural practices? Should I talk about how Mom is still active in her musical sorority?

Should I mention that my brother taught in the German Department and that my sister is an alum too? Those connections definitely drew me toward the U, but my friendships there shaped me as much as family and education did.

One such friendship began in 1982 in my room at Pioneer Hall. I was blasting my favorite band on the stereo when this guy I had pegged as a milquetoast came knocking. “Is that The Gang of Four?” Jeff asked. Our instantaneous friendship has lasted across oceans and time, punctuated by trips to Minnesota's Boundary Waters, holidays in London and Brooklyn, and long-distance calls during Gopher basketball games.

Another friendship began in my freshman composition class. A guy walked in with a scrappy beard, a tattered Levi's jacket, and a whole lot of attitude. We tried to outdo each other during class with outrageous commentary, much to our own amusement. Mike and I met up after class. He and Jeff and I took a slew of classes together, and became pretty inseparable at the U and beyond.

Coming back to the U of M in 2002 to finish my degree (in Asian languages and literatures) after a longer than usual period of dropping out, I couldn’t hope to find simpatico mates among the students. I did, however, find them among the faculty—most notably Joe Allen, who oversaw my artist's residency and urged me to take a creative approach. His rich intellect and enthusiasm made my final burst to the B.A. more fun than any of my previous stints at the U.

And now, those professors that had seemed an eccentric, impenetrable old clique back in the eighties suddenly seemed more like peers. Time will tell if these new friendships will last as long as others I formed at the U. I hope so.

Munson is a professional musician, composer, and producer living in Minneapolis. He has been a band member of Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare, and most recently, the New Standards. Munson received his B.A. in Asian languages and literatures in 2003 and recently returned from The Taipei Artist Village in Taipei, Taiwan as part of a cultural exchange. “Put creative people from all over the globe in the midst of a vibrant cosmopolitan city and good things are bound to happen. For me they did,” says Munson, to whom Allen refers as “our rock and roll B.A.”