Abstract In this interview, Wanni W. Anderson, class of 1962 MA, and Adjunct Professor Emerita of Anthropology, discusses her life and education in Thailand, her transition to American life, her graduate work, and the historical landscape of women’s work and roles in the academy. Anderson begins by discussing her early life in Thailand. She explains […]
Staff/Faculty of Color
Feven Teklu, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Feven Teklu, Senior Leadership Giving Officer in the Office of Advancement at Brown University, discusses her experiences as a woman of color and mother during the COVID-19 global pandemic and in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Teklu begins by sharing her personal background and talking about her childhood […]
Diane Straker, Staff
Abstract In this oral history captured over the course of four interviews, Diane Straker, the Pembroke Center’s administrative assistant, details her experiences living in various states along the eastern seaboard and in Saint Thomas, her daughter’s struggle with Crescentic Glomerulonephriris, and working at Brown University. Straker begins by discussing her family background and her early […]
Christina Smith, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Christina Smith, Associate Director for Undergraduate STEM Development at the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University, shares her experiences as a scholar and member of Navajo Nation during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Smith begins by explaining that she first started hearing about COVID-19 during a trip to Oregon […]
Annalisa Heppner, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Annalisa Heppner, Project Manager for the Circumpolar Laboratory Inventory Project at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University, shares her experiences working, maintaining a relationship, and protesting racial injustice, during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Heppner begins by recalling that she first started hearing about COVID-19 from her family members in […]
Rae Gould, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Rae Gould, Associate Director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Brown University and member of Nipmuc Nation of Massachusetts, shares her experiences living with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Gould begins by recalling her initial thoughts on COVID-19 in March 2020. She remembers that she did not recognize it […]
Mitchell Foster, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Mitchell Foster, a Residential Area Coordinator at Brown University, shares their experiences becoming a Brown staff member during the COVID-19 global pandemic and guiding students through increased racism against the Asian and Asian-American communities. Foster begins by explaining their upbringing in the Philippines and the ways that Filipino culture influenced their […]
Lydia Curliss, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Lydia Curliss, Physical Sciences, and Native American and Indigenous Studies, Librarian at Brown University and member of Nipmuc Nation of Massachusetts, shares her thoughts on the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the fight for Indigenous rights. Curliss begins explaining that nobody realized they would be social distancing […]
Meera Viswanathan, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Meera Viswanathan, then-Professor of comparative literature at Brown University, discusses emigrating from India to Los Angeles in 1961. She describes the language barrier she experienced and her process of assimilating to American life through using the English language. She explains being unable to identify with classmates in elementary school or holidays […]
Clarice LaVerne Thompson, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Clarice LaVerne Thompson discusses her educational and professional path to becoming a visiting professor in Africana Studies and Music Director at Brown University, and founder of RPM Voices of Rhode Island. Thompson begins by describing her childhood and early education in Jackson, Tennessee, and Yonkers, New York. She talks about briefly […]
Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, Associate Professor of Sociology at Brown University, discusses her experiences as a professor and academic navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Gonzalez Van Cleve begins by recalling her earliest memories of learning about COVID-19 and anticipating its impact on the Spring 2020 semester. She talks about assigning more readings […]