Description
- Abstract:
- Lydia English came to Brown in 1981 as a resumed undergraduate education student, after having worked in banking in the US Virgin Islands for eight years. English states that her initial motivation to receive a liberal arts education was her newfound interest \u201cin how cultures interact,\u201d gathered from her extensive work in the Caribbean. English talks extensively on the challenge of juggling an adult, professional, career life with an undergraduate education, particularly with regards to managing finances, as she supported herself throughout. She reflects on that which she missed out on as an adult undergraduate: the freedom to explore academic fields, try out internships, and have a social support system of peers. English refers to her undergraduate experience as an African American woman as positive, allowing her to participate in the dialogue of the university and allowing for her voice to be heard, even though she doesn\u2019t believe that any fundamental alterations to the race dynamics on campus were achieved through her contributions. She recalls the major campus issues at the time, citing post-modern feminist writing and critique as the primary emerging idea with which she was involved in the early \u201880s. On the topics of race and gender, English cites the challenge of removing oneself to reflect on the issue, as one is forever interpolated in its effects. Comparatively, she says that gender is more quantifiable, if one looks at the disparities between men and women in the work place, also mentioning that the number of black faculty at Brown has not changed much over her 25 years at the institution. She closes the interview giving high praise and gratitude to Brown, saying that it opened her mind and spirit to the power of knowledge and the responsibility of such power, also allowing her to realize a life of learning and respect the profound potential and creativity in all human beings
- Notes:
- Class year: 1985
- Biographical note: After a decade long career in banking, Lydia English decided to attend Brown, receiving her AB in Anthropology in 1985 and her PhD from Yale in 1991. She then returned to Brown, accepting a position at the Dean\u2019s Office and teaching part-time in the African American Studies department.
Citation
"Lydia English, class of 1985"
(1994).
Pembroke Center Oral History Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:654099/
Relations
Has Parts:
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Lydia English, class of 1985 Part 1
- Type: Audio
- Order: 1
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Lydia English, class of 1985 Part 1
- Type: Stream
- Order: 1
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Lydia English, class of 1985 Part 2
- Type: Audio
- Order: 2
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Lydia English, class of 1985 Part 2
- Type: Stream
- Order: 2
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Lydia English, class of 1985
- Type: Pdf
- Order: 3
Collection:
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Pembroke Center Oral History Collection
This collection contains oral history interviews with alumnae of Brown University, which admitted its first women students in 1891. The Women's College at Brown was renamed Pembroke College in 1928, and in 1971, Pembroke College merged with the Men's College …...