“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Susan Watson discusses adapting lessons from High School to teaching in college, her strategy of isolation for dealing with being a woman in a predominantly male field, the TA who became her mentor in college, lunch discussions with past generations of female physicists, the importance of brutal honesty in mentoring colleagues, how the size of Middlebury has helped her get to know students, and creating an environment where people are encouraged to succeed.
“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In his interview, Roman Graf talks about his reluctance to teach at a liberal arts college in New England, the politics of Jeans Day, the difficulty of individual expression in a professional environment before tenure, his prejudices of small-town living, the difference between America and Europe in terms of sexism, racism, and homophobia, learning to say “yes”, why working as a diversity administrator created a daily experience of negativity, how a blind student helped him improve teaching, and why we need “theory checks” instead of “reality checks”.
People
Roman Graf
Professor of German and Head of the Brainerd Commons
Susan Burch
Associate Professor of American Studies; Director, CCSRE; Head of Life Stories project
