Linda Pritchard, Oral History Interview, 2018

Description:

Linda Pritchard served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Eastern Michigan University from 2002 until 2005. Pritchard then joined the faculty in the History Department, and later played a vital role in the formation of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, which she headed from 2008 until 2012. Returning to the classroom, Pritchard taught with the History Department until her retirement in 2016. In this interview, Pritchard begins by giving an account of her formative years in Lansing and Bakersfield, California, before summarizing her time at Arkansas State University as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Pritchard extensively discusses her time at EMU, detailing the duties and hiring process of a College Dean, the success of particular programs she was involved in, and her philosophy of education, in which the importance of letter grades pale in comparison to the development of student communication skills, and a sense of empathy for the subjects and people around you in the greater world. Pritchard also discusses the economic hardships and personnel turnover of the early 2000’s, and the effects this instability had on the faculty’s ability to carry out job functions.

Date Issued:

2018-01-30T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Eastern Michigan University Archives

Subject Topic:

Linda Pritchard, University of Texas, Arkansas State University, Bakersfield, University of Michigan, University Administration, College of Arts and Science, gender studies, history education, and Eastern Michigan University.

Rights:

Copyright to the audio resource and its transcript is held by the content creator, author, artist or other entity, and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any other format without written permission of the copyright owner, Eastern Michigan University Archives (lib_archives@emich.edu).

URL:

https://commons.emich.edu/oral_histories/35