Cecilia Herles, who was born in New Jersey, grew up between New Jersey and England, where her father moved the family for work. After graduating from high school, she moved to South Carolina and attended Clemson University, where she studied English and Philosophy. She spent a year living in Atlanta before moving to Athens to attend UGA, where she earned a PhD in Philosophy and graduate certificates in Women’s Studies and Environmental Ethics. She worked as an instructor in the philosophy and women’s studies departments at UGA before taking on the position of Assistant Director of UGA’s Institute for Women’s Studies in 2008. Outside of her assistant directorial role at the university, Cecilia is involved in numerous student organizations, including Campus Kitchen, a food redistribution project, and as the faculty advisor for the Women’s Studies Student Organization and the Triota Honor Society. Cecilia also teaches service learning classes, working with organizations such as the Athens Community Council on Aging. She’s been a member of the board of The Cottage Sexual Assault & Children’s Advocacy Center, and continues to work with the event, Take Back the Night. Cecilia is a musician and music lover and lives in Watkinsville with her partner, Russ, and their dog, Lula. She has two grown children, Owen, 23, and Keira, 18.
What do you love most about the work you do?
I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I do and earn a wage. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I love most. I enjoy the social aspect of interacting with the people in my office, students, and the faculty and staff that I encounter. I love my role as the assistant director and serving as an academic advisor. I try to help students identify the struggles or obstacles they might be facing, figure out what motivates them and inspires them to enable them to find the resources they need or the organizations that they can become involved with, to then become their own leaders and make the changes that they want to see. Being an academic advisor is particularly rewarding, as I often continue to meet with students once they graduate. So, I feel like that’s a bond that doesn’t just stick to the time that they’re here in town in Athens, but also beyond Athens. I love being in the classroom or being in service learning classes where we’re doing work outside of the classroom. I feel as though I get as much out of those classes as the students hopefully do. I learn from the students and from the community members that we interact with, such as the staff, interns, and volunteers at the UGArden. They have helped me get a better understanding of what it takes to grow food. And it gets me out in the community when we do, say, food deliveries, to get to know folks from all different areas of Athens and see who is facing food insecurity or other issues in the community. Another big part of why I love being at UGA is not only do I have a supportive space with the faculty and staff that I work with at the Institute for Women’s Studies, but I also enjoy getting to know faculty across campus and getting involved and attending all the events that you get at a big university setting. There’s always some amazing concert, or some wonderful film screening or documentary at Ciné or on campus.
So all of those things, I think, contribute to a really vibrant, ever-evolving kind of learning process. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I “grew up.” I just never really knew the answer to that. But I knew I wanted to be a student, and I figured out a way to still be that lifelong learner.
When you’re not working, what are some things you like to do in and around Athens?
I love how my interactions in and around Athens have changed over the years. I used to come here in the 1990s and most of what I did was go see bands. Lately, I don’t see as many bands, but I still try to get out and do it when I can; maybe it’s going to the Marigold Festival in Winterville, or seeing bands at AthFest or something like that. I’m probably a bit more disconnected from live music than I would like to be, however, I think I spend a lot more time outdoors now. I love to walk. I love to hike. I love going to the outdoor spaces, the greenways, the trails that we have. I love Sandy Creek and Watkinsville Woods. The Botanical Garden is one of my favorite places to be. I probably go there at least once a week. The other thing that’s really interesting to me is our food scene here in Athens. I think it is really cool. It has changed quite dramatically over the last few decades. There are tons of places to try different food, and that’s exciting to me to check out in Athens.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I’m about to embark on this trip to Asia and I’ve always wanted to go to Asia, because my mom was born in China and grew up in Taiwan. I’ve never been to either China, Taiwan, or anywhere in Asia. So this summer, I’m finally going to Taiwan and I’m super excited for lots of different reasons. First of all, it’s my heritage. It’s the homeland, so to speak, but I’ve never been there. Some of my family are there so I’m excited to see them. And you know, another reason why I am looking forward to going to Taiwan is deeply rooted in family stories and traditions that now we’ll get to see firsthand. Years ago, my band, Awkward Thrust, wrote a song called Mazu and it’s about a female pirate. And there’s a whole festival around Mazu in Taiwan that’s very popular among young people. I want to do a whole tour in reverence of Mazu. So this summer, I want to check out some of those temples, specifically the Mazu temples. I also hear from lots of folks that Taiwan has some of the best food on the planet so I’m really excited about going to night markets and checking out the food there.
What advice would you give your younger self?
That’s a hard one for me because I don’t think I have any regrets. I think that I’ve fallen into lots of things without any planning. I think I would just continue that. I would say, don’t worry if you’re spontaneous or if you have no plan. “Don’t worry” I guess would be the big overall message. I often feel content and happy because of things that I never planned, so I think that I’d just remind myself at all ages not to worry and to embrace whatever comes your way. Be open to change, and being spontaneous.
If you could see any band or show or musician anywhere, who would it be and where?
This is probably the most difficult question for me. I have seen some of my favorites. I’m so glad I got to see Patti Smith here in Athens, Georgia. I grew up in England in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, and my brother was fortunate enough as a punk teenager to see some of the bands that I really wish I had seen. So if I could transport myself back, I would go back to England and see some of those bands. My brother got to see the Stranglers, The Jam, Buzzcocks, I mean the list goes just on and on. But if I had to pick one, it would be The Clash in the late ‘70s in London.
Do you have a favorite book, or one that you find yourself re-reading, referencing, or gifting?
This year for our seniors who won awards in women’s studies, I gifted Raquel Willis’s The Risk It Takes to Bloom. Raquel was a former student of mine who’s done so many amazing things and written a memoir of her life. It’s such a joy and a pleasure to gift that book to other students. I also connect with Braiding Sweetgrass [by Robin Wall Kimmerer]. I found that it was such a beautiful blend of scientific Indigenous knowledge woven into a great appreciation for the world around us and the traditions as well. So, I’ve particularly latched on to that book and it got me through some tough times.
Do you have a favorite movie, or a movie that you’ll always re-watch if you run across it?
I think in recent years, this has shifted. At one point it was definitely Harold and Maude. That’s such a classic and I love the soundtrack to it, and I have such fond memories of watching it with a group of friends in high school. But a movie that I loved seeing in theaters with Russ and Keira was Everything Everywhere All at Once, at Ciné. The only way I can describe it is it’s the movie I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I found that Keira and I were just hitting each other because we were laughing or just so excited; we were literally having a physical reaction. And we were just obnoxiously loud in our response to the movie, we were crying at moments, there was just a lot of emotional energy that I felt watching that film, and it’s funny because I haven’t gone back to rewatch it because I almost don’t want to ruin that moment that it captured for me. To see a woman of [Michelle Yeoh’s] age and background in that role really shows such strength and such resilience. I also found the mother-daughter relationship in that film really fascinating.
If you could put any message on a billboard, what would it be?
So I’m kind of a hippie at heart. It is just taking a page out of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s book, and it sounds cliche, but “give peace a chance” still resonates with me. Another one that resonates with me is that song, “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding.” I think that those come back to the heart of what I would love for others to appreciate or value. Or it could be, like, a really great quote from some inspiring leader like Grace Lee Boggs, where she talks about how we need the arts now more than ever to kind of re-figure and reinvent our world and create the next American revolution.
If you could have lunch with anybody dead or alive, who would it be and where?
I would love to have a conversation, lunch gathering, first and foremost with my dad. He passed away when I was in my early 30s. I would love to have an opportunity to have a meal with him at the family farm in Ireland where my grandmother was born. I’d love to have him and my grandmother together in conversation.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?
Love, food and music.
