1.What drew you to Bucknell, and what were your first impressions of the University?
I’ve known about Bucknell for a long time as a great liberal arts school. My first impressions when I came for a visit is that it’s even better than I knew.
2. What do you see as Bucknell’s greatest strengths? Its challenges?
Bucknell does a lot of things very well, and has great faculty, staff, and students. The success of Bucknell graduates demonstrates that a liberal arts education really is the best possible preparation for a rapidly changing world. Bucknell’s challenges include the need to make the campus feel like a safe and welcoming place for intellectual challenge no matter what a person’s background, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, or religion.
3. What is your proudest accomplishment in your career?
I have convinced many students that the Middle Ages are not dead or boring!
4. As a Professor of French and previous head of the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon, what does the power of language mean to you?
Language matters. In every interaction. There is no more powerful tool. And speaking more than one language opens the world in surprising ways…
5. What is one thing you hope all college seniors walk away with after a liberal arts education?
I’ll list two things: the willingness to question their own assumptions, and to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
6. You have had a successful career as an administrator, a teacher, and a mother. What is one piece of advice you would give to female Bucknell students seeking a similar work-life balance?
I love what I do, even though it is really demanding. My advice to women students is to choose a career path that brings deep satisfaction and continued growth as well as a reasonable living. We need to model for our children that “work” can be as much fun as “play.”
7. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
Pippi Longstocking. Remember her?
8. Three Fun Facts:
- My middle name is Kismet – really!
- My sons are both musicians: Leo is a DJ, and Amos is a rapper.
- You know that I’m Canadian, eh?