Besides teaching Russian and East European History, Poe sings and plays the guitar with a band he named for his wife.
Next year, Poe said he has tentative plans to teach in his field. He said options include offering a freshman seminar on 15th-20th century travelers to Russia, supervising theses or teaching at the extension school.
Poe has a PhD in Russian History from the University of California at Berkley and has held two post-doctoral fellowships at the institute for advanced studies at Princeton and the institute for Russian studies at Columbia.
Cornell University Press also recently published Poe's book A People Born to Slavery: Russia in Early Modern European Ethnography, 1476-1748.
Poe said he applied for the Senior Tutor position largely because he wanted to become more involved with undergraduate life.
"College was the best four years of my life," Poe said. "Through this position I am able to get some sort of vicarious pleasure."