After 15 years of marriage, Keith and Kelly Moser continue to thrive together while both working in Mississippi State University’s Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures (CMLL).
The CMLL department is composed of seven different language sections: Asian Studies, Classics, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. Keith Moser works as the department head of the French section, while Kelly Moser serves as the department’s graduate coordinator and an associate professor of Spanish.
In 2002, the couple met at a graduate orientation at the University of Tennessee on Keith Moser’s birthday.
“I had just started my Ph.D, and she just started her master’s degree. Of course, she couldn’t resist my charisma,” Keith Moser said.
However, Kelly Moser said her initial interest was in the chocolate birthday cake he had brought to the event.
As a couple, she said they got along beautifully and have always been best friends.
“Keith is very calm, will observe everything and will be the last one to speak. I am the opposite,” Kelly Moser said.
The couple agreed that their personality differences were complimentary to one another.
After graduating with his Ph.D in Modern Foreign Languages, Keith Moser was offered a job at MSU and the couple relocated to Starkville, Mississippi.
“Well, when we first moved here, we started in the same department. I was hired as a lecturer of Spanish, and then I ended up getting my Ph.D. Now I have a different role in the department,” Kelly Moser said.
While the couple work in the same department, they remain distanced by their own fields of study.
“Even though we’re one department, we have so many different languages that there’s still, you know, separation. So, we don’t, you know, come home, and talk about work constantly, for example, but we enjoy working together,” Kelly Moser said.
The Mosers said there were other benefits of both working in the CMLL department. As an ensemble, the duo could present at interdisciplinary conferences and have the benefit of knowing the same colleagues.
“Both of us being in academia, I would say, is incredibly helpful because we understand the pressures of academia. Being at Mississippi State now for as long as we have, we know, kind of, how Mississippi State works. So, we can address challenges together in that way,” Kelly Moser said.
After almost 16 years in the CMLL department, the Mosers said they felt like MSU veterans.
“Well, I think, Mississippi State … it’s our home. Pretty much everything we do has some connection to Mississippi State,” Kelly Moser said. “We have a daughter, who, you know, is very familiar with Mississippi State, and we hope someday she might be able to go there.”
As the Valentine’s Day season approaches, the couple said they would likely spend the evening with their daughter and two dogs.
The Mosers agreed that Starkville’s college town atmosphere appealed to their love of cheap eats.
“I’m going to say we’ll be eating Buffalo Wild Wings, pizza, beer … you know, watch TV with the dogs,” Kelly Moser said.