Learning Through Language: Alex Tougas on Public Education, Pop Culture, and the Liberal Arts.
Tristan Cabello | The Master of Liberal Arts
As Language Arts Department Chair at Annapolis Middle School in Anne Arundel County, Alex works daily with middle school students—an age group he’s grown to love for their curiosity and potential.
As many students, he didn’t come to the Master of Liberal Arts program for credentials. “I actually started a similar program at Wesleyan University,” he explains, “but transferred to Hopkins after moving to Maryland and speaking with the MLA director.” For Alex, who completed his undergraduate studies at Bowdoin College, the draw of the MLA was its depth and range. “I’ve always been passionate about the liberal arts. I knew I wanted to continue this kind of study in graduate school.”
From the Jackson 5 to Walking Tours of NYC
Ask Alex about what’s stayed with him from the program, and he’ll give you two snapshots. First, a walking tour of New York City led by Professor Scheper, as part of a course on art and cultural history. “We visited museums, explored the city—it was immersive, intellectual, and alive,” he recalls. Second, a paper he wrote in The Black Politics of Michael Jackson, which explored the legacy of the Jackson 5. That piece was later accepted into a graduate school journal. “That class challenged me to think critically in ways I hadn’t before,” he says. “And it gave me the space to write on topics that felt both personal and political.”
It’s that combination—the academic and the everyday—that defines Alex’s approach to teaching. The MLA didn’t just give him new tools; it reshaped how he understands the stakes of public education. “The liberal arts push me to look at every issue from multiple perspectives,” he reflects. “That’s what I try to model for my students: thinking deeply, listening carefully, and broadening the conversation to include voices that are too often excluded.”
Life Beyond the Classroom
Outside of work, Alex is currently pursuing National Board Certification, the highest credential a public school teacher can earn. He and his wife recently bought a home in Pasadena, Maryland, where they live with their two cats and a growing collection of books. Even in quiet moments, the questions raised in the MLA stay close: What is a good society? Who gets to be heard? What can education repair—and what must it remember?
An Invitation to Think
To future MLA students, Alex offers simple advice: Make the most of your time in this amazing program. Your professors and your peers will become lifelong intellectual companions.
The MLA forces you to return to the world with better questions. And for Alex Tougas, those questions now live in his classroom too.
Thank you for writing and sharing these wonderful stories about the MLA students. We, like, rock!