A Conversation with...Christopher Hellstrom '96, '99

CSI Alumni@Large: What is your fondest memory of CSI?
Christopher Hellstrom: Sitting in Professor Andrew Fuller’s Phenomenological Psychology course and thinking how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to explore these fundamental questions of existence in class. There was no place I would have rather been. He was an inspiring teacher.

CSI A @ L: On which campus did you attend your classes?
CH: St. George, Sunnyside and eventually the Willowbrook campus. All of them!

CSI A @ L: If you had your CSI education to do over again, what would you do differently?
CH: I think I would have majored in philosophy instead of as a minor. However, it makes no sense to second guess. Education should be a continual process. There is no subject that I wished I learned then that I could not take up now on my own.

CSI A @ L:What was your major?
CH: Psychology with a minor in philosophy (96). I also received a Masters of Liberal studies from CSI (99) and I’m finishing my Doctorate in English from St. John’s (11).

CSI A @ L: In your opinion, what was the best aspect of your CSI experience?
CH: The fantastic teachers.

CSI A @ L: Who was your favorite professor?
CH: I can’t decide. Larry Nachman, Stephen Stearns, Stanley Barlow, Matthew Greenfield, Peter Simpson, and Andrew Fuller are all in a rush for first place.

CSI A @ L: What was the best piece of advice you received?
CH: “You should be reading 500-1000 pages per week.” a challenge posed by Larry Nachman, CSI political science.

CSI A @ L: How did CSI help prepare you for your current position?
CH: It helped foster a spirit of insatiable curiosity. In higher education publishing, it helps to be interested in everything.

CSI A @ L: What is the best part of your job?
CH: That I can visit campuses to talk about books and find authors. I always loved school so I never really left.

CSI A @ L: What do you do when you are not working?
CH: I love to write and I’ve self-published a couple of books, “The March” and “Fresh Kills” My next fiction book will be called “Magisteria” and I have a children story project called “Adventures of Galaxy Girl” on the back burner. 

CSI A @ L: What was the last movie you saw?
CH:“Moon,” by Duncan Bowie, David’s Bowie’s son. A great independent science fiction movie that tackles issues of identity and bioethics. 

CSI A @ L: What was the last book you read?                                
CH: The excellent “You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto” by Jaron Lanier (non-fiction) and “2666” by the late Chilean-Mexican author Roberto Bolano (fiction). 

CSI A @ L: What is your favorite quote?
CH: "Why should things be easy to understand?"- Thomas Pynchon, when asked about the difficulty of his books.

CSI A @ L: Describe your family.
CH: I have two daughters, baby Violet and five-year old Madeline. My wife, Erika, works for the CSI Foundation and we live in Tottenville here on Staten Island. Tottenville is great because on the weekends we can walk a few blocks to the historic Conference House park, the Tottenville library or the best old fashioned ice cream shop on Staten Island, Eggers.