An assistant professor in the history department, James Loeffler is certainly one of those people for whom moving around and traveling have been as much a career-building exercise as a hobby or a necessity. Having grown up in Washington, D.C., Loeffler spent time in Boston while getting his bachelors degree at Harvard. He then spent eight years at Columbia University and a year in Israel while working towards his master's and doctorate degrees.
The move to his current hometown, Charlottesville, marks Loeffler's first stint as a professor, after earning his Ph.D. last year.
Loeffler, who is one of the youngest members of the history faculty, said he has found the response from his older and more experienced peers to be very supportive.
"It's been great coming into such a large department with a faculty which has a variety of interests and experiences," Loeffler said. "It's very helpful to be getting the benefits of such a faculty."
Loeffler said he also found the experience of moving from New York to Charlottesville to be a positive one.
"It's definitely a different culture, which I like very much," Loeffler said.
"After almost 10 years in New York, it is nice to have a slower, a more quiet life. And I definitely do not miss the New York subway."
Loeffler added he found this atmosphere to be reflected in the University's academic life as well.
"At Columbia, the students are equally smart -- however, there is a lot of this urban, New York attitude about culture and politics," Loeffler said. "It is definitely refreshing to be in a place where people are as smart, savvy and sophisticated but approach things in a more polite, more relaxed manner."
Loeffler, who teaches Jewish history, said his interest in history was a result of his love for music.
"I play the jazz and classical piano, so I first got into Jewish folk music because a lot of jazz musicians were combining Jewish folk music with jazz, which, for me, was phenomenal," Loeffler said. "So when I was trying to understand how Jewish folk music came about, I started looking at the history of the Jewish people."
Loeffler's interest in history was further encouraged by an encounter in his freshman year in college.
"My first year in college I took a seminar which just got me hooked, because I had this professor who had dedicated his life to discovering history that had not been explored just yet," Loeffler said.
Loeffler said his current research on the history of Jews in Eastern Europe is fueled by this same notion of investigating what currently remains undiscovered.
"The history of Jews in Eastern Europe in the 20th century is an area where there is so much that is uncovered, so many questions unanswered, because the Soviet archives were not made public until about 10 to 15 years ago," Loeffler said. "This is a part of modern history which we can finally analyze after all these years and look for the real answers."
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