Pursuing a lifelong journey of learning – Dr. Dominic Sur

Not many professors can say they’ve lived in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal.

Dr. Dominic Sur can.

Sur, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University, came to Cache Valley in 2015 following a journey that took him everywhere from a monastery to Harvard. He completed his PhD at the University of Virginia before coming to Logan.

However, if someone had asked Sur when he was a teenager if he would become a professor one day, he probably would have thought you were crazy.

“I was thrown out of high school,” Sur said. “I was not a good student, and I didn’t like school.”

Sur grew up in Southern California, where his home life was less than ideal. “In my family, there’s secrets and there’s abuse and there’s ostracization and it’s sad,” he said.

One day, after dropping out of school, Sur stopped by a bookstore near his home in Venice Beach to get a surfing magazine. While there, he saw a book about dying well. This interested him because some of his acquaintances had died due to drugs and violence, so he purchased it.

While he admits it wasn’t a very good book, it led him to seek out and find another book about Buddhism that he still has today.

“Buddhism was a religious system that really spoke to me when I found it,” he explained.

After his interest was sparked, Sur decided he would try to learn Tibetan, one of the main languages of Buddhism. He looked up “Tibet” in the phone book and the only result was a Tibetan gift store a few miles from his home.

Sur called the phone number for the store and asked the owner if she could teach him Tibetan. She explained that she did not know Tibetan, but she got his information.

A while later, Sur got a phone call from the bookstore to let him know a Buddhist master would be coming to the area to receive medical treatment. Sur jumped on the opportunity, spending time with the man, and helping him to and from his doctor appointments. Eventually, the man began to teach him the Tibetan alphabet.

After this experience, Sur decided to further his studies by living in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal. Every Saturday, he and the monks would walk a mile to town to get dumplings. One week, he met an American who was visiting. His name was Bob Desjarlais, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. They began to play chess every week until the man returned home.

Eighteen months later, Desjarlais returned to Nepal and recognized Sur. The man asked Sur what he was going to do with his life when he got home, to which Sur didn’t have a response.

Desjarlais introduced Sur to the idea that he could make a living studying Buddhism. Sur responded by saying he couldn’t do it because he had dropped out of high school, but Desjarlais encouraged him that it was possible.

“He was really important. He not only encouraged me, but those around me to encourage me,” he said.

After returning to California, Sur began to attend night school at a community college while driving trucks to make ends meet. After 2 1/2 years of this, Desjarlais helped Sur apply to the college he worked at, Sarah Lawrence College, a private liberal arts college on the East Coast.

After graduating from Sarah Lawrence, Sur continued his education at Harvard University, studying Sanskrit, another major language of Buddhist literature and one of the hardest languages to learn. During this time, he studied every day for two years. His Harvard study partner is now a Buddhist monk in India.

Following his experience at Harvard, Sur obtained his PhD in History of Religions at the University of Virginia. After receiving the degree, Sur planned to continue to teach at UVA.

One day, the department head called to see what Sur thought about teaching in northern Utah. Sur talked to his wife, Jeannie, and they decided to try it. They packed up a U-Haul and drove from Charlottesville, Virginia to Logan, Utah during the summer of 2015. Sur described the day they came to Cache Valley.

“As we were driving past Bear Lake, we stopped and just couldn’t believe it. It looks like Tibet. It looks otherworldly,” he said. “Then, we dropped into Logan Canyon, and by the time we arrived on the valley floor in Logan, we were totally in love.”

In his time at Utah State, Sur’s perspective and experiences have impacted the students he teaches and mentors.

Tanner McAlister, a senior majoring in economics and religious studies, has taken multiple classes from Professor Sur.

“His idea about the intersection of religion and society is extremely beneficial to me,” McAlister said. “It’s shaped the way I think about religion, and it’s opened up different aspects of religion that I never would have considered.”

Alexandra Bobella, another USU student, decided to add a religious studies major because of an introduction to religious studies course she took from Dr. Sur during her freshman year.

“He’s my professor, but he’s also a mentor and actually a friend of mine,” she said. “He cares about students, and he wants to hear from them and wants a one-on-one connection, if possible.”

The students at USU have also had an impact on Dr. Sur. According to Sur, USU students are unique because they are religiously literate and are as interested in religion as he is. “I’ve never had students like I have here. It’s really unique,” he said. Sur said his students have even affected his areas of research.

Outside of the classroom, Sur loves trail running, saying that he’s gone “crazy” with it since coming to Logan. His go-to trail in Cache Valley is the Jardine Juniper trail. He said the mountains remind him of Tibet, which is also a high, dry, mountainous location.

Music is another big part of Sur’s life. To cool off after a day of work, Sur said he drinks a glass of wine and listens to some music. His listening selection can range anywhere from Beethoven to Bob Marley to Skrillex. He has also enjoyed dancing ever since he was young.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that, several nights a week, I just find time to move my body and dance and listen to music,” he said.

While Sur is currently on a year-to-year contract, he said he would love to stay at USU forever if given the opportunity. At the same time, he knows he and his wife could enjoy many other places as well. “My wife’s one of those people who’s happy to be anywhere, and that’s infectious and rubs off on me,” he said.

If Dr. Sur had one piece of advice to give USU students, it would be to learn about a wide variety of things that interest them while in college.

“I would encourage my students to cultivate their passion, even if it’s not directly connected with what they think they will be doing for a living,” he said.

Sur sees the college experience as a unique opportunity to learn about as many diverse things as possible, and hopes to be able to share that love of learning with his students.

—alek.nelson@aggiemail.usu.edu

@nelsonalek