Ryan Patrick Tierney

Thesis Title: The Tragedy of Ted Kaczynski: Globalization, Disillusionment, and the Rise of the Far Right

What Now: Submarine Officer, US Navy

Follow Me: @tierney_ryanjfk (Instagram)

Perhaps more so than other Hist Lit students, my studies in the department are almost wholly unrelated to my daily work as a junior submarine officer: studying Nuclear Engineering and learning to run a submarine reactor plant. I actually had to petition the Navy to allow me to concentrate in Hist Lit when I was at Harvard; they would have much preferred if I had studied engineering or another STEM field. However, it was my early seminar classes with James Kloppenberg and Hannah Waits that motivated me to pursue Hist Lit, and I don't regret it in the slightest. I have had to work hard, but the technical knowledge has come, and because of my Hist Lit background, I feel that I am far more prepared to lead sailors, advocate for my people (good writing can be the difference between your sailor getting a promotion/award or not), and, particularly given my thesis work, fulfill my oath to the Constitution under all circumstances.