Some people say they are so hungry they could eat a cow; Glenn Kuehn says he can eat the world. “Through eating, the world actually passes through us,” Kuehn, an assistant professor in philosophy at Mississippi State University, announced proudly. “Food offers us the most intense, interactive experience with our environment because when we eat, we actually take bits of the environment, we put them in our mouth and swallow them.”
Kuehn wrote his dissertation on a combination of John Dewey’s writings, which explores the body’s ability to find meaning and his own theory of food as art.
“Food is transformed-it’s changing and it changes you,” Kuehn said with a laugh, “It’s not like the Mona Lisa. Food is inherently rotting, and that presents a problem.”
Kuehn said he prides himself on his culinary ability and expertise in throwing dinner parties. Although he enjoys delicacies, such as caviar, his taste also appreciates the simple foods.
“I love hot dogs. I am a real sucker for hot dogs and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It’s awful,” he admitted, slightly embarrassed that his preferences match those of a 6-year-old.
His wardrobe contains a contradiction similar to his varying appetite. Dressed casually in shorts and a short-sleeved button-down shirt, he sits at his dark brown desk topped with a Gateway computer, a phone, a Diet Coke and a few file folders. His clothing is similar to many students on campus, but his Cookie Monster blue hair is the brightest item in the room.
“I’ve been coloring my hair for seven years. I started the wilder colors about a year ago,” said Kuehn, who has experimented with many shades, including ultraviolet purple, enchanted forest green and deadly night shade, a mixture of red and black. Kuehn offers bonus points to the students in his class who guess the correct number of times he will dye his hair during the semester. He is not only interested in the color and style of his own hair-hair is one of the first things that attracts him to other people.
“I love black women’s hair. If it’s relaxed, it can be sculpted into such beautiful styles. I think it’s just amazing,” said Kuehn, who drives to Atlanta, his former home, once a month for a haircut.
“It’s the gayest, most flaming salon I have ever been in. It’s just hilarious, like a sideshow, when you go there. One half hour of entertainment just listening to the stylists talk to each other,” Kuehn said with a slight laugh. “I’m going this weekend,” he admitted excitedly.
Kuehn, new on campus, said he notices people’s accents most but misses Atlanta’s social life greatest. He now occupies his dream home in Columbus.
“I live in a place I always dreamed of living. I live in a very nice, large loft: 13-foot ceilings, old hard wood floors, ceiling fans,” he says, noting the need for decoration in his new place.
Though his office is also stark and yet to be decorated, one picture frame stands proudly on a filing cabinet. It boasts a letter from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
“I passed all four at the same time. That’s very rare,” Kuehn said matter-of-factly about his exams that preceded his dissertation. “I’ve been told I am the last person to pass all four at the same time at SIU.”
Glenn, as his students call him, teaches daily on MSU’s campus. He is not an actor, but his performance might receive an Academy Award nomination from his students.
“He’s very comfortable in class,” said junior Julie Strawn, who is in his introduction to philosophy class. “It’s like he’s just talking to a group of people he’s invited to dinner. He’s having a conversation.”
According to his Web site, a former student suggested Kuehn preface the names of his classes with the title “The Glenn Show.” Kuehn challenges his students to expect drama; fun, bombastic presentations; very challenging perspectives and some ideas that are simply bizarre.
“The first thing I noticed was his leopard shoes. I’ve never seen a guy with leopard shoes,” Strawn said.
“I love shoes. These are starting to fall apart,” Kuehn said, pointing to the pair of green reptile skin shoes on his feet. “I just can’t bring myself to get rid of them. If I had the money, I would collect shoes.”
Kuehn, named the “kid who gets to play teacher” on his Web site by a former student, said he hopes the steps taken in his life will allow him, “to know that I did well in the end-that I didn’t screw up too much.”
“I’ve never been a one-theme man,” Kuehn said. Not only has he lived in areas of the United States like Wisconsin and Georgia, he also spent a semester studying in Japan while working on his undergraduate degree.
“I loved the trains. I loved the food. I loved Kyoto the most,” Kuehn said. Most impressed by the humility of the Japanese and their “humble reciprocity,” he said he wishes he had stayed a full year. He now craves sushi without cure due to the lack of Japanese restaurants in Starkville.
Kuehn, smiling, shared his favorite quote from the movie “Auntie Mame.” “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.”
He said he possesses an insatiable appetite for experiencing life, and there is an entire world on the mene