Take a look at some of his most prized possessions in this month’s installment of our What’s on My Desk series, where we highlight interesting objects displayed by professors in their offices. 

A Seattle Sports Fan and Cat Dad

Ott, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, describes himself as a “lifelong Seattle sports fan.” Tucked away in his office bookshelf is a Funko Pop of former Seattle Seahawks player Steve Largent, a gift from his two children. 

Ott also has a small figurine of a cat, an homage to his three actual cats: Philip, Lucy, and Frankie. “I’m a big cat person. In fact, I fostered five kittens that were feral cats this past summer,” he said. “We adopted out four of them and kept one—Frankie, short for Frances.” 

‘I Told You I Would Ruin Music for You’

Ott has a collection of coffee mugs, including an Iron Maiden mug. “As a kid, I was super into hard rock and heavy metal music because I have two older brothers, and that’s what they were listening to.”

Next to it is a graduation gift from former students—a one-of-a-kind mug. “On one side is a score from a piano sonata by Mozart that we often analyzed in our music theory class. On the other side is a quote that I apparently said during class: ‘I told you I would ruin music for you and I hope that I have.’ I told my students this piece would haunt their dreams because we’d talk about it so much,” Ott said. “But I followed up that quote with, ‘I’m not really ruining music for you. You’re now able to listen on a deeper level and understand how the piece is not only structured, but how many pieces are structured in a similar way. Now, you can listen for the ways in which each piece is unique.’” 

A Breaking Bad Spin-Off

On a bulletin board, next to art drawn by Ott’s children when they were little, is a satirical poster of award-winning TV series Breaking Bad. “There’s a technical term in music theory called ‘breaking species.’ This method helps composers avoid writing difficult passages. My former student at Juilliard’s pre-college program thought it would be funny to create a Breaking Bad mashup, so they replaced the main character Walter White with me and the music theorist who came up with this subject in the 18th century,” Ott explained.

‘Hi Dada, I’m Auditioning for Fordham!’ 

When they were young, Ott’s two children left behind post-it notes in his office. His eldest child is now a first-year college student, but Ott still keeps their Post-its on his computer screen. “I often brought my kids with me to work [when babysitting didn’t work out],” said Ott. “They even drew a picture of my wife, who is also a musician.”

The Birthplace of New Songs

Ott composes music at a desk between his office keyboard and electric piano. First, he starts composing by hand with a pencil and blank sheet music. Then he types notes into the keyboard, which translates his composition into digital sheet music on his computer screen, while playing the actual music out loud on his electric piano. 

Unfortunately, Ott does not have soundproof walls. “I’m lucky that on the other side is not somebody’s full-time office,” he said. “Also, I can connect headphones to my electric piano.” 

Soundproofing isn’t a problem in the new music suite several floors below his office. “We have five really great rooms where our students can practice, rehearse, and explore,” he said. 

His own office is a place where he does the same thing—enjoying the sound of music. 

“When I teach, I’m teaching students how to listen deeply and sharing my love of listening with them. Even composing is an act of listening. I’m listening to music that is unfamiliar to me, and trying to capture it. What I’m putting on a page is a transcription of something that I’m hearing,” Ott said. “[Listening] is the source of everything I do.” 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Take a look at some of Schwalbenberg’s most eclectic possessions in the second installment of our What’s on My Desk series, where we highlight interesting objects displayed by professors in their offices. 

A Goodbye Gift from the People of Micronesia

Schwalbenberg’s office is home to dozens of trinkets and souvenirs from his travels and those of his students. Among them is a model of an ocean-going canoe—a goodbye gift from the people of Micronesia, where he worked for three years. Also pictured here are cups from a state fair in Minnesota, where his great-great-grandfather settled after immigrating from Germany.

A Photo with the President of the Philippines

Among the mementos is a framed photo of Schwalbenberg hooding Benigno S. Aquino III, the 15th president of the Philippines, when he received an honorary doctorate from Fordham in 2011.

A Photo of Ms. Schwalbenberg

Schwalbenberg also has a framed photo of his wife, Alma, whom he met thanks to Jesuits in the Philippines. “I was teaching at Ateneo de Manila University, and some of the Jesuits there introduced me to her family. At the time, I was studying at Columbia. Her family told me that she was studying at Fordham. They arranged an introduction. She told me she wanted to learn how to ice skate, so I took her ice skating, but she actually had no interest in learning how to ice skate. That was just a ploy,” Schwalbenberg said, chuckling.

The Dorothy Marinucci Bell

Hot Sauce from New Orleans for President Tetlow

Sitting on his desk are two brand-new bottles of cajun hot sauce from Tulane University. At a graduate school fair for returned Peace Corps volunteers, a Tulane recruiter gifted Schwalbenberg the hot sauce to celebrate Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow, who grew up in Louisiana and both studied and worked at Tulane. “I was thinking I should give it to her,” said Schwalbenberg, who is not a fan of hot sauce himself. When asked if he could handle spice, he answered, “Probably not.”

The ‘You’ve Got Five Minutes’ Timer

In front of his chair is an hourglass reserved for students. “I give my students a hard time. When they come in and say, ‘I only need a minute to talk to you,’ I say, ‘OK, you’ve got five minutes,’” Schwalbenberg said, while turning over the hourglass. “They usually stay beyond that.”

Schwalbenberg I and Schwalbenberg II

His most unique possession is a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself, a birthday gift from former IPED students. “Sometimes I put it in people’s offices and scare them,” Schwalbenberg admitted. 

Behind the two Schwalbenbergs is a world map that encapsulates his decades spent traveling, teaching, conducting research, and attending conferences, as well as the diversity of countries that his students hail from. 

His favorite country is Micronesia — the first place that felt like home outside of the U.S. He spent three years on an island in the middle of the western Pacific Ocean, teaching at a high school and studying the relationship between his two homes. “They adopted me,” joked Schwalbenberg, who lived in Micronesia in his 20s. 

The IPED Program

Schwalbenberg’s students in the IPED master’s program prepare for careers improving food security, education, and gender disparities abroad. For undergraduates, Fordham offers a major in international political economy. 

International experience is important for students, said Schwalbenberg. “We think they are going to be better people for that, having a deeper understanding of how other people live. We hope it makes them better professionals in whatever career they choose.” 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Below, take a look at some of Knobel’s most fascinating possessions in the first installment of our What’s on Your Desk? series, where we highlight interesting objects and keepsakes displayed by professors in their offices.

‘The Mets Deserve Their Little Corner of Fordham’

Knobel has a “Mets shrine” on her bookshelf, home to bobbleheads, a replica of Shea Stadium, and more. “The Bronx is Yankees country, but I feel like the Mets deserve their little corner of Fordham,” said Knobel. “I made my peace with the Yankees, thanks to people like Michael Kay, as well as Justin Shackil and Ryan Ruocco, who were in my very first class I taught at Fordham. I’m so happy for their success.”

(Future) Taekwondo Master Knobel

Knobel is a third-degree black belt in taekwondo who proudly displays her first and second degree black belts in her office. “I’m scheduled to go up for my fourth-degree black belt in June, which is the first rank of mastery. People at my taekwondo school will have to call me Master Knobel. I will be the first woman at my school to make master, so that’s super exciting,” she said.

An Autograph from the Last Leader of the Soviet Union

Knobel cherishes her autographed photo of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union. “This was a 40th birthday present from a friend at CBS who knew that I admired Gorbachev greatly. I wrote my dissertation about Gorbachev and how he used the press as a strategic tool in governing. That’s why I started going to Russia. I actually fell in love with a Russian journalist on my first trip, and then eventually moved there,” said Knobel, who served as the Moscow bureau chief at CBS News for seven years.

Advice to an Afghan President on How Not to Get Assassinated

Pinned to a bulletin board behind her desk are press passes from her 20-year career as a journalist, including passes for the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan and a U.S. presidential visit to Russia. Beside her own press passes are her son’s. “When I was a foreign correspondent, my son needed an accreditation card as a member of my family to enter the country,” she said. “You can see him growing up in those little cards.” 

There are also photos of Knobel with former colleagues, including Scott Pelley and Bill Owens from CBS News—and even well-known political figures. “That’s Hamid Karzai, back when he was president of Afghanistan, and our team interviewing him in 2002,” Knobel said, pointing to a group photo. “We gave him advice on how to not get assassinated.”

A Message from ‘The Most Trusted Man in America’

Knobel also has an autographed photo of revered American journalist Walter Cronkite. “It would be fascinating to talk with him today about the importance of objectivity,” she said. “In the Cronkite years, TV news didn’t tell people what to think—but what to think about. Not all news does that anymore.”

An Emmy for Covering a Hostage Crisis in Russia

Knobel earned an Emmy for her role as a producer in CBS News’s coverage of the 2002 Moscow theater siege, where nearly 1,000 people were taken hostage by terrorists. 

“As a producer, you’re aiding the correspondent, looking at the script and making suggestions, talking to the cameraman and editor to make sure they’re getting all the pictures that they need, and putting it together in a way that makes sense to a viewer who doesn’t know a lot about Russia or this hostage situation,” said Knobel. “I remember sitting in a car, two blocks away from where this was going on, and feeling so powerless to help those people inside, but trying to make sure that whatever we reported was accurate and fair.”

A Miniature Burqa for a Barbie Doll

At first glance, a blue cloth sitting atop a stack of plastic cups doesn’t seem unique. But it’s actually a burqa for Barbie dolls—a keepsake from Knobel’s reporting trip to Afghanistan. 

“It’s a reminder to me of how different our world is, yet the same. Everyone plays with dolls and dresses them in their native clothing,” said Knobel. “To me, all of my work as a teacher and a journalist has essentially been about bringing understanding to the world. It’s a representation of how journalism is the coolest job in the world.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.