Professor Pizzo Explains the Most Important Skill in Golden Dome Lecture

“I’m here to tell you about a skill that’s capable of raising your awareness. It’s a skill that heightens your senses. It’s a skill that opens many doors and invites you to explore many vistas,” explained Professor Joseph Pizzo in his lecture event. “That skill is the ability to read.”

Pizzo should know. He’s been a dedicated and prolific educator for over 50 years. He’s worked in five different  Centenary departments since 1992 and is currently an adjunct professor of English, teaching WRI-1002 Composition and Rhetoric II. Pizzo also teaches seventh-grade Integrated Language Arts at Black River Middle School in Chester, NJ. 

Pizzo shared his insights on the power of reading during Centenary’s most recent Under the Golden Dome lecture series, which is run by Pastor Tim and was held in Taylor Memorial Library at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. The event drew about a dozen attendees. As Pizzo said, “I never say that it’s the size of the crowd; I say it’s the size of the heart in the crowd and I know there’s a lot of heart in this crowd.”

In this presentation, Pizzo introduced reading as a four-fold gift; diverse perspectives, empathy, a way of making sense of the world, and discovering a sense of self. He believes books give readers both wisdom and knowledge. 

Throughout the evening, he quoted Confucius, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and Isaac Asimov to demonstrate how a change in perspective and personal reflection, driven by reading, can have a profound impact on individuals. 

Pizzo is a strong believer that knowledge in our youth is a catalyst for social justice, creating balance and inclusion. 

The concept of social justice stems from Centenary’s early affiliation with the Methodist Church. As an important tenet of Methodism, it is not surprising that social justice remains part of the fabric of our college community and today is realized in the Under the Golden Dome speaker series. Social justice is only achieved through an exchange of diverse ideas, according to Pizzo. Only through nonviolent conflict can change occur. “Social justice must be informed and inspirational rather than urged and implied,” said Pizzo. 

“The United Methodist Church has had a long tradition with providing, not only information, but stepping up and being participants in social justice concerns from the very beginning,” said Pastor Tim. “What we’ve decided to do here with the Under the Golden Dome speaker series is to give students that kind of exposure. Hopefully, that will inspire them to be involved in social justice both while they’re here at college and beyond.”

The best recipe for success for students, according to Pizzo, is to be immersed in books covering a wide range of backgrounds. “A room without books is like a body without a soul,” said Pizzo, quoting Cicero, Roman lawyer, philosopher, and orator. He also mentioned how “a community without a library is compromised at best since the great diversity of thought has nowhere to harbor itself.”

From 2003 to 2018, quoting from the American Academy of Arts of Sciences (AAAS), Americans under 55 reading for enjoyment daily dropped from 22 minutes to 16 minutes, according to Pizzo. These numbers are three times higher in adults with advanced degrees. Yet, on average, most Americans spent almost three hours a day watching television. Pizzo also mentioned, teenages have also been found to spend almost five hours a day, on average, scrolling through social media, according to Jonathan Rothwell, principal economist at Gallup, a global analytics and advisory firm. 

Parents reading with and to their children can foster a love of reading in children and encourage leadership as they grow, described Pizzo. 

Kindness, fortitude, and charity, according to Pizzo, are prevalent in a world where reading is encouraged in schoolchildren. 

“Books provide the wisdom of the ages, the insight of the brave, the courageous, and the dignified,” said Pizzo, quoting Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer and aeronautical engineer. 

“Books build pathways to explore the world outside of our  parochial experiences. Books bring voice to the voiceless and attention to those who are being shunned.” Books, according to Pizzo, promote justice, freedom, and equity in society. 

Today, we tend to consult YouTube on how to do something rather than ask professionals. “I’m a big believer in balance,” said Pizzo. “Look at what you have and see what you need. Then, you decide how you get it. If you need to solve a problem, you need man power or woman power– people power. That’s what you need to do rather than watch 14 videos on YouTube and they’ll tell me how to. ‘No,’” said Pizzo. 

Anyone can get a book or watch a video that tells them how to do something instead of paying a professional. But, in the end, they’ll never fix something as good as the professional. According to Pizzo, he’ll mess up the cuts and it’ll cost him more than just bringing in a professional in the first place. Having the wisdom to know what you are capable of and know what you need to ask someone for help with is powerful. 

When asked about his favorite authors, Pizzo had this to say; “Find an author with whom you identify.” Who he might view as the greatest authors or others may view as the greatest author may not be everyone’s favorite. He appreciates and respects all authors, but doesn’t give recommendations. He wants students to find authors with whom they identify and find authors outside of professor recommendations. 

Some authors read in college classes aren’t always authors students enjoy reading and never want to read again, said Pizzo. However, the information may be useful down the line. Regardless, students should figure out for themselves what they enjoy reading. The messages from Shakespeare can “coexist” with more modern texts. 

“This presentation was really inspiring,” said DJ Hannon, junior creative writing major. “Especially in a world that’s so convoluted with information, it can be very difficult to understand what’s important to focus on. I think just simplifying the information to understand it in a more social justice and educational type of way and use what he said and draw on what inspires you and what can help you. What can I learn from? There’s so much to learn.”

In his long career, Pizzo has also made time to host several podcasts (all available on YouTube) and made a guest appearance on Episode #71 of an educator podcast on PodBean called Out of the Trenches. On his podcast, Literature is Lit @ Centenary, he brings awareness to the complexities of teaching children effectively in today’s digital climate using current research when he interviewed several Centenary professors, including Dr. Lexis McCoy, associate professor of Education,. He has also interviewed a number of authors he has found influential and inspiring to both himself and his student as the host of a podcast called An Author’s Journey and hosts a third podcast, We Have Issues. 

He was awarded the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE) and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Educator of the Year in 2020. He’s also a member of the New Jersey Autism Think Tank, and is a member and historian for the NCTE Children’s Poetry Book Award. 

Keep an eye out for Jamie Weingartern’s Stay in the Know emails or posters around Taylor Memorial Library for the next Under the Golden Dome event.