Collections : [Oral History Archives at Columbia]

Across this four-session interview, Alice Kessler-Harris discusses her research and early career which emerged from the women's movement of the 1970s. Kessler-Harris discusses her role as a lead witness in the 1986 case brought against Sears, Roebuck and Company for gender discrimination, and her related 1990 publication A Woman's Wage. Kessler-Harris talks about the beginnings of her academic career, including her experiences teaching at Rutgers University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Hofstra University. She also discusses the guidance she received from Rutgers historian Warren Sussman and her work with District 65 of the United Automobile Workers union before accepting a position at Columbia University. Kessler-Harris discusses the introduction of gender as a category of analysis in the 1990s and, upon her arrival at Columbia, the transition within the women's studies department from activist scholarship to public intellectualism, and the increasingly post-structural, theoretical direction of women's studies. Additionally, Kessler-Harris describes what she sees as a decline in student activism while also acknowledging the role of students in helping her create safe spaces for transgender students. Furthermore, Kessler-Harris discusses her program "Social Justice After the Welfare State" at the Center for the Study of Social Difference, and the role of intersectionality in the future of IRWGS.

In this interview, Barry reflects on her arrival at Columbia University in 1985. She begins by describing her upbringing in Butler, New Jersey, citing the challenges of being one of nine children and a student in an overcrowded small town high school. Barry goes on to describe her time at Gettysburg College and her pursuit of a Master's degree in history at Columbia. Barry reflects on her decision to move to New York. She shares her experience of coming out and her subsequent encounters with homophobia. Barry characterizes her participation in IRWGS and recalls her efforts in GABLES, the Gay, Bisexual, and Lesbian Employees and Supporters group, which existed from 1993-1997 and arose to combat the inaccessibility to married housing, health benefits, and life insurance for queer couples at the University. Barry describes the limitations of GABLES in a larger discussion of the long and difficult process by which queer women, transgender, and LGBTQ people of color struggled at the University.

In the first session of this interview, Barbara Simon talks about her early involvement with the newly-established IRWGS upon her arrival at Columbia University in 1986. Simon talks at length about how IRWGS became a significant part of her scholarship at Columbia. At IRWGS, Simon says, she found scholars with similar ideas, gave a book talk after the publication of her first book Never Married Women, and participated in a grant-funded faculty seminar on intersectionality in feminism that continued to inform her work at the time of the interview. Simon also addresses the current state of IRWGS, applauding the institute for becoming more interdisciplinary and theoretically sophisticated, and for adding 'sexuality' to its name. Simon talks about the necessity of studying both gender and sexuality. Simon discusses how she was drawn to the Columbia University School of Social Work (CSSW) and the challenges she has faced as a qualitative researcher, ethnographer, feminist scholar, activist, and an openly gay woman. Simon puts emphasis on the challenges which still remained at the time of the interview, including circumstances which make it very difficult for scholars to teach interdisciplinarily at centers like IRWGS. In the second session of this interview, Simon offers advice, imagines the possible future of IRWGS, and notes the continuing problems for feminism on Columbia's campus and elsewhere. Additionally, Simon addresses the administration's response to issues of sexual assault on campus and the relationship between IRWGS and Barnard College.

In the first session of this interview, Christia Mercer discusses her PhD program at Princeton University and the campus's intellectual environment for women, many of whom experienced "imposter syndrome" at the time. After being hired by Columbia University, Mercer found a mentor outside of the Philosophy Department in Jean Howard and subsequently started teaching at IRWGS. She addresses her approach to teaching the IRWGS seminar Feminist Texts I. Mercer also returns to earlier memories to recall the culture growing up in Texas and the gender roles she observed there.

In this interview, Ellen MacKay discusses her early life including her high school studies, her undergraduate years at Barnard College, and her appreciation of the theater—all of which helped direct her course of study. MacKay details her most influential courses and instructors, including an undergraduate Feminist Text course with Ellen Chesler and a graduate course on early modern theater with Jean Howard, which led to her personal pursuit of a greater knowledge of history, literary criticism, and feminist theory. Jean Howard, along with Julie Crawford and Rachel Adams, became both a mentor and role model for MacKay and led her to pursue a graduate certificate at IRWGS. MacKay discusses the inspiration and guidance she received under these women and others. Additionally, MacKay addresses the influence IRWGS's Feminist Pedagogy workshop had on her career.

In this interview, Eric Foner describes his experience at Columbia University, first as a student and later as a faculty member. He begins with a description of Columbia at the time of his undergraduate and graduate years, from 1959 to 1969. Foner discusses the state of the history department during this period. After his return to Columbia in 1982, Foner describes the arrival of Professor Elizabeth Blackmar, the first female history professor at Columbia. Foner recalls early conversations with Blackmar regarding the integration of women's studies into the history curriculum and names Blackmar as the crucial connection between history and IRWGS. Foner locates these goals within a larger shift at Columbia, citing the inclusion of female undergraduates in 1983. Foner continues to see institutes such as IRWGS, the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies as crucial agents in diversifying Columbia's intellectual community.

In this interview, Farah Griffin begins by discussing her early life in South Philadelphia, her love of reading, her relationship with her father and how he was impacted by racial prejudice, the demographics of her neighborhood, and her personal study of women's history and black history. She talks about her early education at an integrated Philadelphia magnet school and the Baldwin School. She goes on to address the origins of her admiration for Toni Morrison, her decision to attend Harvard University as an undergraduate, and her mentors at Harvard: Nathan Huggins and Werner Sollors. Griffin talks about her intellectual interests, including Black feminism, Black feminist literary studies, jazz studies, gender and sexuality, and literature. Griffin discusses her PhD program in American Studies at Yale and cites the classes and professors that influenced her. She briefly addresses her time at the University of Pennsylvania and her own activist work. She characterizes the climate of the English department when she arrived at Columbia and how she was immediately embraced by IRWGS and by the Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS). Griffin talks about her mentorship with Jean Howard and her involvement in diversity initiatives. She discusses her bookHarlem Nocturne, novelist Ann Petry, and her work spreading black women's intellectual history. Griffin concludes the interview by reflecting on how the student body has changed during her time at Columbia. She specifically addresses generational differences between herself and her students, especially regarding the election of President Barack Obama, the backlash after his election, the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, the Black Lives Matter movement, and anti-sexual violence activism on campus.

In this interview, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak discusses her decision to come teach at Columbia University, drawn by New York City, her friend and colleague Palestinian literary theoretician Edward Said, and IRWGS. Spivak shares the topics she explored at IRWGS—feminism and psychoanalysis, global feminism, feminism and de-colonization—and her role in the foundation of Columbia's Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. Spivak discusses the nature of the discipline of comparative literature and its relationship to other departments. Spivak goes on to talk about gender studies and the climate for feminism at other institutions, including: the University of Pittsburgh, Emory University, University of Texas Austin, University of Iowa, and Cornell University. Spivak also discusses feminism in her childhood and her unconventional upbringing in India. Spivak addresses tokenism and the challenges of being a female professor of color. She also talks about her Rural Education Project, her activism, her mother's activism, and being inspired by Malcolm X.

Lindt begins this interview with a discussion of her time as chair of the Columbia University Ad Hoc Committee on Women's Studies. Lindt describes the emerging questions concerning women in academia in the mid- to late-1980s at Columbia. Lindt talks about the formation of IRWGS, the procedural challenges facing the young institute, and the impact of IRWGS on Columbia's academic environment, including a new examination of the Core Curriculum. Lindt then moves into a discussion of the Breslow Committee, a panel created in 1980 to consider the implementation of co-education at Columbia. Lindt cites her experience on the Breslow Committee as one which further motivated her to advocate on behalf of women in the academy. Lindt describes the inequality evident in the classroom following the admission of women, and the silence of both Barnard and Columbia College students. Lindt discusses the dilemma of teaching versus research experienced by faculty. She also discusses issues of sexual assault at Columbia and the ways that women's studies addresses sexual violence and harassment.

In the first session of this interview, Greg Pflugfelder explains how he was first inspired to study gender history through the instruction of Barbara Solomon during his undergraduate years at Harvard. He addresses his following years at Waseda University and Stanford University and the continuation of his research on gender history, including the publication of his first book Politics and the Kitchen: A History of the Women's Suffrage Movement in Akita Prefecture. Pflugfelder discusses how he began to research sexuality studies and what the intellectual environment was like for the study of queer history at that time. Pflugfelder describes his initial involvement with IRWGS after joining the East Asian Language and Cultures department at Columbia University in 1996, including his contribution of a focus on queer and sexuality studies to the Institute. In the second session of this interview, Pflugfelder explains his role in IRWGS's Executive Committee and his role as a male scholar within the Institute. He also explains how he, along with Lila Abu-Lughod, helped contribute to IRWGS's shift from a primarily Western perspective to a global one. Pflugfelder goes on to address the unique interdisciplinary space IRWGS is on Columbia's campus and its importance as both an intellectual and social community.

Hallett begins this interview by discussing her background in film production and history, citing David Nasaw as her mentor at CUNY. Having worked as a film producer and editor, Nasaw encouraged Hallett to explore the role of women in early Hollywood, a theme running throughout her scholarship. Hallett characterizes her position as a cultural historian within the Columbia University History department, and the ways in which she incorporates feminism into the classroom. She describes her favorite course to teach: Gender History and American Film.

Jean Howard begins this five session interview by discussing her childhood on a farm in northern Maine. Howard recalls her early years as an avid reader, the innate feminism in her family, and her decision to attend Brown University as an undergraduate. Howard talks about her mentor at Brown, Barbara Lewalski, and her time as a Marshall Scholar in London. Howard explains how these years inspired her pursuit of an intellectual study of the theater, and how Lewalski inspired a trend of female mentorship in Howard's life. Howard discusses her experience as a graduate student at Yale University, her years working at Syracuse University, her fight for maternity leave at Syracuse, and how she became a more politicized scholar. Howard then describes her transition to Columbia University and the climate of the English department when she arrived in 1987, including Carolyn Heilbrun's resignation shortly after. She also discusses the experience of female faculty members within the department and the English department's time on receivership. She touches on her position as Columbia's first Vice Provost for Diversity. Howard explains her year away from Columbia and why she returned. She goes on to talk about the creation of the Center for the Study of Social Difference and her students. Howard then discusses the establishment of IRWGS and the role it played in her scholarship. She talks about the formative decisions in the early days of IRWGS. She describes the early curriculum of IRWGS, its relationship to Barnard College, and the courses she co-taught with Martha Howell. She elaborates on the early goals of IRWGS, including an aversion to white feminism and an inclusion of queer studies. She further discusses the intersection between Marxism and feminism, the hiring process of IRWGS, the pursuit of global feminism, IRWGS as both an intellectual and social space, and the plurality of feminisms. She also touches on the origins and influences of her pedagogical style, sexual assault on campus, solidarity with and involvement in campus activism, the Pembroke Center at Brown, the university administration, and New York City.

In this interview, Ferrante describes the campus environment for female faculty members of Columbia University in the 1960s, including: the student body, the disparities in pay, the challenges of gaining tenure, and common experiences with the administration. She addresses the different viewpoints between male and female scholarship with a focus on the value of the different approaches to research and inquiry that women have. She discusses her work with and relationship to Carolyn Heilbrun, as well as Heilbrun's significant departure from Columbia University. Ferrante characterizes the English department with particular attention to its shifting power dynamics, hiring processes, decisions in granting tenure, and prevalence of an "old boys' network." She shares her experiences with the Columbia University Senate, the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee, the Ad Hoc Committee on Women and, later, her involvement with IRWGS. She lists some goals of these organizations on campus, including: increased availability of childcare, availability of maternity leave, salary equity, stronger policies against sexual harassment, and measures against discrimination in tenure decisions. Ferrante discusses Columbia College's decision to become a co-educational institution and how she argued for Barnard College to remain as a separate institution. Ferrante also addresses her personal scholarship, including the significance of her book Women as Image in Medieval Literature: From the Twelfth Century to Dante, her translation of The Lais of Marie de France, and her shifting focus within the field of medieval studies. Ferrante both looks to the past to share her knowledge of female mentorship throughout history and towards the future as she addresses the work that still needs to be done.

Crawford begins this interview with a discussion of her time as a junior faculty member at Columbia University and her experience working within a union at Simon Fraser University. She explains how this experience increased her awareness of unfair institutional practices and contributed to the subsequent creation of the Junior Faculty Committee to empower faculty. Crawford talks about joining IRWGS, being respected as an individual, and the challenges of being a female professor. She cites Jean Howard as a mentor. As the Chair of Lit Hum, Crawford describes the Feminist to the Core Series, and how to transform classroom debate into fruitful discussion. Crawford discusses the ways in which IRWGS has become more interdisciplinary, and the titular recognition of "sexuality" in IRWGS. Crawford discusses her close relationship with Katherine Franke, and the importance of intellectual and institutional support among IRWGS faculty. Crawford continues with a discussion of thinking globally, the relationship of feminism to global justice, and Third World Feminism. Crawford also talks about the Title IX complaint filed against Columbia University and No Red Tape's shortcomings, her own experience with activism as an undergraduate student, the importance of intellectualism in activism, and how she was affected by the death of Trayvon Martin. She goes on to discuss the benefits and limitations of the internet for contemporary feminists, IRWGS's relationship to Columbia's CORE curriculum, and how to minimize misogyny on campus. Finally, Crawford describes the size of the university administration and number of faculty appointments during her career at Columbia.

In this interview, Karen Van Dyck begins by discussing her early life and education. She particularly focuses on her first trip to Greece, which inspired her intellectual pursuit of modern Greek female poets. In 1988, Van Dyck was recruited to begin a Modern Greek program at Columbia University and immediately became involved with IRWGS, both teaching and learning within the institute. She discusses the support network she found at IRWGS, particularly after the birth of her three children. All the while, Van Dyck explains, she was working to open up the Classics department to changes, including its collaboration with IRWGS. This was supported by the department chair Roger Bagnall but, Van Dyck notes, she was the Classics faculty member who was primarily relied upon to do this bridge work. Van Dyck discusses this experience and the nature of this work. Throughout the interview, Van Dyck discusses the differences in studying women and feminism at different institutions, particularly Columbia, Wesleyan, and Oxford. Additionally, Van Dyck ruminates over her generation's place, especially the place of female scholars, within larger institutional history and over the shifts and realignments of IRWGS in recent years. Van Dyck discusses the institute's growing emphasis on the social sciences. She discusses collaboration with the Institute as well as the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.

Ciolkowski begins this three session interview by discussing her undergraduate years at Columbia University as part of one of the first co-ed graduating classes. She describes the attitudes on campus and the relationship between Barnard College and Columbia. While Ciolkowski cites an internship with Kate Wittenberg before college as her first introduction to feminist figures and politics, she names Anne McClintock as a crucial mentor in her early experience with feminist scholarship. Through McClintock, Ciolkowski engaged with New York Women Against Rape (NYWAR). Ciolkowski discusses the decision to pursue a graduate degree in English, her development at Brown University, her subsequent experience as a faculty member of Yale's Women's Studies Department, and her decision to move back to NYC and leave the academy. Here, Ciolkowski describes her experience freelance writing, speech writing, and researching for the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.

In this interview, Abu-Lughod describes her time at Williams College, the Institute for Advanced Study, and New York University. Abu-Lughod cites her appointment at Williams—where she attended a reading group with Catharine A. MacKinnon, Adrienne Rich, and Wendy Brown—as her first engagement with women's studies. Abu-Lughod describes the impact this had on her early work,Writing Women's Worlds. Abu-Lughod then discusses her time at the Institute for Advanced Study, where she worked alongside scholars such as Judith Butler, Evelyn Fox Keller, and Donna Haraway. She goes on to summarize her time at New York University, during which she participated in a Ford Foundation Grant effort to internationalize women's studies.

In this interview, Blount describes his cultural upbringing in New York City, detailing his experience with segregation in high school and his decision to attend Williams College. Blount goes on to discuss his exposure to African American literature at Williams, citing Melvin Dixon as a mentor. Blount provides an account of his graduate work in American Studies at Yale University, and his addition to the faculty of Columbia University in 1985, serving as one of Columbia's five African-American professors at the time. Blount discusses his experiences of marginalization and the strategies he has used to overcome structural obstacles, including his development of alliances with feminist scholars within the English department. Blount names colleagues Susan Winnett and Carolyn Heilbrun as early allies. Blount discusses his longstanding advocacy for a more inclusive Columbia Core Curriculum, including his 30 year petition in favor of adding Ralph Ellison'sInvisible Manto the syllabus. Blount talks about his 1987 arrest during a campus protest demanding resources for African-American students. He recalls his emotions at the time, how it affected his work, and the University's response to the incident. Following this incident, Columbia established lines in African-American Studies and created the Intercultural Resource Center.

In the first session of this interview, Hirsch discusses her undergraduate experience at Brown University, including her involvement in anti-war demonstrations, her female professors, and her senior thesis. Hirsch joined a consciousness-raising group consisting of female graduate students and professors' wives in 1970. She explains how this exposure to feminism became a crucial element of her professional and personal development as a graduate student at Dartmouth College. Hirsch explains her role in helping to establish a women's program of mentoring and public speaking programs at Dartmouth in 1978, the first of such at any Ivy League institution. Building coalitions with the Brown Center for Research on Women and the Radcliffe (now Bunting) Institute at Harvard, Hirsch cites the importance of conversation and conflict in forming stronger alliances, especially in the 1980s, when categories of womanhood and white feminism were being called into question. Hirsch goes on to describe her familial background. Hirsch characterizes feminism as a source of strength as a single mother and scholar. Lastly, Hirsch touches on her first marriage, her brief time teaching at Vanderbilt University, and her partner Leo Spitzer.

DiGangi begins this interview by discussing his decision to attend Columbia University, stating that he began to engage with New York City's LGBTQ subculture as a high school student. DiGangi describes initial exposure to gay studies and feminist theory in an undergraduate class with Professor John Archer. From there, DiGangi attended an IRWGS course co-taught by Jean Howard and Martha Howell. As a graduate student at Columbia, the field of sexuality and LGBTQ studies was expanding, and DiGangi and others sought a space to address it. Out of this need arose the Lesbian and Gay Studies Reading Group. With immense support and encouragement, the Lesbian and Gay Studies Reading Group accrued speakers ranging from Martin Duberman, the first director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY Graduate School, to theorists and critics such as Eve Sedgwick, Wayne Koestenbaum, Douglas Crimp, and Judith Butler. DiGangi describes the ways in which the Lesbian and Gay Studies Reading Group became a legitimate institution within the Columbia community, and the resources it provided to queer students navigating the academy. DiGangi discusses how, in 1995, he helped to organize a conference on activism and academia, and defended a gay student dismissed from the PhD program.

In the first session of this interview, Howell discusses her years as an undergraduate student at Georgetown University; her time working in Germany as a research assistant, au pair, and translator; and her decision to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University. Howell describes her early involvement in the women's movement, volunteering for Ms.magazine, and joining consciousness-raising groups, before moving into a discussion of her graduate studies. As the first female PhD student in European Women's History at the Columbia history department, Howell describes the limited resources available to her at the time. Howell cites the Annales School as a source of inspiration, and describes her involvement in an informal reading group of the Core Curriculum literature, which became a locus for female graduate students.

Maya Meredith begins this interview by examining her personal history with feminism and her early exploration of it through blogs and publications like Jezebel. After arriving at Columbia University, Meredith began to take courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) and was persuaded to major in the discipline after Professor Hilary Hallet's course Gender History and American Film. Meredith discusses the role that reading the works of bell hooks, Simone de Beauvoir's Second Sex, and learning about the case of Sarah Baartman had on her education. Meredith addresses the common frustration with the lack of representation of both feminist texts and texts by people of color within the Columbia Core Curriculum. Meredith also explores the benefits and challenges of using blogs and social media to generate feminist discussion and debate. Further topics of discussion include: Meredith's role in the Philolexian Society; her experience with Q-House, a special interest community for queer students and allies; her relationship with campus activism; and Barnard College's relationship to the rest of the University. Meredith also addresses the personal and political history of her family, her reactions to the killings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, and gender relations in her life.

Born in an academic family located on the Upper West Side, Fisher spent her early years around the campus of Columbia University, later moving to an affluent Westchester suburb. Fisher attributes early awareness of feminist concerns to her mother, grandmother, and grandfather. Fisher also recalls attending student protests with her father in 1968. Fisher then describes her experience as a Barnard College student in the 1980s and the benefits of attending a women's college. Fisher describes her informal exposure to feminism at Barnard, tensions between Barnard and Columbia, and the early years of Columbia College as a co-ed institution. Fisher discusses her undergraduate internship at Performance Space 122 in the East Village, which became a major influence on her work. Having first attained her master's degree at Wesleyan University, Fisher decided to pursue a PhD in anthropology with an integration of women's studies and dance at Columbia. Fisher describes the early development of IRWGS under Martha Howell and the generational differences in IRWGS. Fisher cites professors Jean Howard and Elaine Combs-Schilling as sources of support and as female scholars who paved the way for future feminist scholarship at Columbia. Following a more general discussion of IRWGS, Fisher describes the development of her graduate research and how it evolved and transformed over time. Fisher describes her interest in issues of gender, work and inequality. She discusses women and finance at length, citing IRWGS training as a tool used to anticipate the advent of corporate feminism. The interview concludes with a discussion of Fisher's teaching experiences and a summation of her continued presence within IRWGS. Fisher describes her time teaching anthropology at Georgetown University and her position at the time of the interview at New York University's Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. Fisher remarks on her continued participation in IRWGS and the Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD) through a group entitled "Social Rights After the Welfare State" with Alice Kessler-Harris.

In the first session of this interview, Dailey explains her introduction to medieval studies, the benefits of graduate studies, and her activism as the Director of IRWGS. Dailey discusses her graduate studies at the University of California, Irvine in Comparative Literature under Jacques Derrida and Jean-François Lyotard. Dailey discusses how she developed her own literary approach and considers her work to be a reaction to the first wave of feminist medieval scholarship. She cites Caroline Walker Bynum's book,Holy Feast and Holy Fast, as a particularly inspiring work. Dailey goes on to describe her role as Director of IRWGS, including her introduction of a University seminar on affect studies, and the involvement of professors from EALAC (East Asian Languages and Cultures), such as Hikari Hori and Mana Kia, with IRWGS. Dailey also describes the creation of the Junior Faculty Advisory Board. Dailey describes the challenges of single parenting and the pressures of the academy, naming Alondra Nelson as a mentor throughout these challenges.

Patricia Williams begins this interview by discussing how she came to Columbia University in 1991, explaining how she both followed Martha Fineman, creator of the Feminism and Legal Theory Project, from the University of Wisconsin and was drawn to Columbia by IRWGS. Williams addresses her subsequent involvement with IRWGS and her shifting relationship between the Institute and the Columbia Law School. Williams describes how she entered into academia without any prior experience working in a law firm, how her commitment to writing defined her career despite her field (particularly in reference to the publication of her book The Alchemy of Race and Rights) and how she was the first and only black woman in nearly all of her workplaces. Furthermore, Williams discusses the changes in demographics of law school, both amongst students and the faculty. Williams analyzes IRWGS as an inclusive and interdisciplinary institute. Other topics that Williams addresses include: her early and continued devotion to writing; her time at Queens College, the Golden Gate University School of Law, and the School of Criticism and Theory at Dartmouth College; her mentorship with Derrick A. Bell, Jr.; political correctness; sexual assault on college campuses; and Emma Sulkowicz's Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight).

Adams begins this interview with a recollection of her arrival at Columbia in 1997. She describes the interviewing and vetting process, the completion of her dissertation, and her experience settling into New York City. Adams characterizes IRWGS at that time as a center of leaders. She discusses the feminist pedagogy course she co-taught with Julie Crawford. Adams reflects on the students of IRWGS, the institute's hierarchy, and Columbia's institutional environment. She gives examples of academic support within IRWGS, including her first presentation in the Feminist Interventions Series and the formation of a faculty writing group which included Kristina Milnor, Sandhya Shukla, and Julie Crawford. Adams chronicles her interest in Masculinity Studies, her co-authorship of theMasculine Studies Readerwith David Safran, and the limitations of the field.

Hanning begins this interview with a discussion of his early education at Brooklyn Technical High School and subsequent undergraduate and graduate studies. At age 16, Hanning enrolled in the Columbia University undergraduate class of 1958. Hanning reflects on his perceptions of the Core Curriculum and impressions of Lionel Trilling. After continuing his studies at the University of Oxford and then Columbia, Hanning joined Columbia's faculty and became a tenured professor in 1969. Hanning describes his wife's experiences in academia in contrast with his own; She was denied a fellowship at Yale University while Hanning had no female colleagues. He characterizes this as a catalyst for his political engagement while at Columbia. He describes his involvement with the Civil Rights Movement and the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Hanning also describes two courses, taught in collaboration with David Rosand, which came out of this era.

Rosalind Morris begins this interview by discussing the status of the Department of Anthropology upon her arrival at Columbia University. She goes on to describe her interest in IRWGS's content and teaching style. Morris also discusses her role in the establishment of the IRWGS Feminist Interventions series. Additionally, Morris discusses the problems faced by IRWGS throughout her directorship including the crises of labor and energy, the institutional vulnerability of IRWGS' faculty, the ongoing debates about activism in the classroom, the relationship between institutional marginality and autonomy, and the Institute's relationship with Barnard College. Morris explains the evolution of IRWGS in its inclusion of queer studies, race studies, and third-wave feminism. She also focuses on the resurgence of misogyny and white supremacy in response to these ideas. Here she discusses 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, and sexual assault on college campuses, citing Emma Sulkowicz's Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight).

In the first session of this interview, Chinn discusses her adolescence after moving to New York City from London at age 15. Chinn describes the political campaigns she was involved with in London, as well as the youth culture of downtown New York City in the 1980s. Chinn attended Yale University for her undergraduate studies, and discusses impacts of the AIDs epidemic and student organizing on the New Haven campus. Chinn talks about the challenges she faced as a graduate student at Columbia University and her subsequent creation of the Queer Studies Group. Chinn names Patrick Horrigan, Mario DiGangi, and Liz Wiesen as core organizers of the Queer Studies Group, and Judith Butler and Eve Sedgwick as attendees. Chinn describes the interest in work being done around gender and queer studies even without a formal curriculum.

Shamus Khan begins this interview by describing his childhood and early academic achievements at St. Paul's School, Haverford College, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Khan recalls stories of his parents' immigration process and briefly reflects on how his undergraduate experience was impacted by his sexuality. Khan discusses the origins of his interest in racial inequality in the classroom and the apprehensive reactions of his colleagues at UW-Madison. After reading the work of Tamara R. Piety, Khan began examining his experience at St. Paul's School. Only a few chapters into his dissertation, Khan joined the faculty of Columbia. He cites limited access to music, art, and a larger queer community as motivating factors for his move to New York. Khan discusses his first book, The Production of Privilege, and acknowledges the role of the 2008 Recession and the Occupy Wall Street movement in its success. Additionally, Khan acknowledges the role of his family's wealth in securing his ability to take academic risks, such as his focus on studying the wealthy. Khan goes on to describe his position as the Chair of the Sociology Climate Committee, which is devoted to issues of social difference in the classroom. In the second section of this interview, Khan discusses sexual assault on campus and the activism surrounding it. He talks about the relationships amongst the administration, the faculty, and student activists, especially those in the organization No Red Tape. Khan goes in depth with his discussion of campus politics and how to change the system. He explains the filing of the Title IX complaint against Columbia University and its repercussions; trigger warnings; and Emma Sulkowicz's Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight). Khan also discusses the Sociology department's lack of response to the 2014 racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. Khan concludes the interview by discussing his involvement in IRWGS and SHIFT (Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation).

In this interview, Marcus discusses the relationship between IRWGS and Columbia University. She characterizes this relationship as mutually supportive by comparing the IRWGS curriculum to the Columbia Core curriculum. She also addresses how IRWGS provides a space for students and faculty to collaborate across departments and how the institute cooperates with other centers on campus to address issues of race, gender, ethnicity, and class. Marcus compares the state of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Columbia to that of other institutions like Brown University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Marcus goes on to discuss the difference between institutes and departments and how it affects the operations of IRWGS. Additionally, by addressing problems of sexual assault on Columbia's campus, Marcus explains the nature of institutional change and examines the relationship between IRWGS and activism.

In the first session of this interview, De Grazia discusses her early academic experiences at Smith College as an undergraduate and her subsequent enrollment in Columbia's Graduate History program. She characterizes and explains her involvement with theRadical History Review. De Grazia discusses her time teaching European History at Lehman College and Rutgers University in the late 1970s. De Grazia cites the birth of her child in Italy as a turning point for her scholarship, as it made clear the prevalence of fascist practices surrounding femininity in Italy that inspired her first book,How Fascism Ruled Women: Italy, 1922-1945. De Grazia describes her involvement in the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis. Empowered to pursue new projects, De Grazia began studying issues of consumption and gender with Michael Taussig and Ina Merkel, which resulted in her 1996 volume entitledThe Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective. De Grazia describes the camaraderie of faculty and the union presence at Rutgers. In 1994, De Grazia joined Columbia's faculty and she offers an organizational comparison between Rutgers University and Columbia University. Finally, De Grazia discusses the development and financial support of IRWGS in the late 1990s.

Victoria Rosner begins this interview by discussing her undergraduate years as a member of one of the first co-ed graduating classes at Columbia University. She addresses the underrepresentation of female professors and their experience both in the classroom and as employees of the University. As a graduate student of English Literature at Columbia she encountered more female professors and developed a close relationship with her advisor Carolyn Heilbrun, who resigned shortly after in response to the decision not to tenure Susan Winnett. Rosner addresses both the exciting and destabilizing nature of being a student at this time. Upon reading Nancy K. Miller's book Getting Personal: Feminist Occasions and Other Autobiographical Acts, Rosner developed a relationship with Miller as well as Columbia Professor Jean Howard. Rosner explains how these connections led her to adopt an interdisciplinary and feminist approach to her scholarship.

In this interview Vina Tran discusses her experience at IRWGS and the institute's relationship with other centers and departments. Tran addresses her personal intellectual development while at IRWGS by describing her dual role as a student and employee. Tran also discusses the ways in which IRWGS responded to the shifting reliance on technology and the internet and her personal role in that transition.