Your beard is very professorial.
Well, if I shave, I look like a teenager. When I started teaching, I walked in the class and one of the students asked me, “Do you know who’s teaching this class?” But that was a while ago.
Where are you from?
Montenegro. But I have a house right outside of Florence in Tuscany, and I go there every couple months. It’s a place to recharge.
What’s your recharge routine like?
I go to little towns that I’ve never seen before; I eat a lot of simple, great food and drink a lot of wine. I bought this little church that is probably 1,200 years old, and I’ve been fixing it for the last six years.
Makes me want to become an art professor.
The flexible hours—yes, it is good.
Interview by Rachel Baker.