Dr. David Driscoll (Interview) · Digital Archival Objects at WestConn · Omeka-S - A digital resource administered by the Western CT State University Archives

Title

Dr. David Driscoll (Interview)

Date

1991

Description

60 mins.

Identifier

ms012_10_19_driscoll

Abstract

Coverage: 1960s-1970s
Topics discussed : (side A): Growth of WestConn from 1960s; Dr. Haas; she had been there for many years; very pleasant and easy to get along with; Changes in student body; influx of minority students; academic preparedness of students was poor in some aspects; many of the better students were women; Academic standards of faculty; easy/relaxed standards; Teacher/student relations; student was a student, teacher was a teacher; Vietnam War; had effect on the male students between 19; 21; male students upset; Minority students; many were black males w/ attitudes; faculty felt threatened by them and their grading policies were effected; "Nature of Man"; the beginning of humanities at WestConn; Name change; went from DSC to WCSC while he was there; Transition from teacher's college to liberal arts college; student wanted program that allowed them to earn a degree that gave them opportunity to teach in CT; students wanted opportunities to stimulate leaning process; Dr. Greenwald; was in charge of the "Nature of Man"; he was also chairman of department; both used to talk about what the program meant; Make up of "Nature of Man"; a four year program w/ each year following the previous; "Old School"; teacher's training; concern was the educational background; preparing students to teach; neither he nor Dr. Greenwald cared about training teachers; both concerned about philosophical ideas; His role in "Nature of Man"; he taught the "Nature of Man I" course; Defining "Nature of Man"; selling the idea to the faculty; Student reaction to "Nature of Man"; general reactions was mixed; some unsure, others got it; students didn't change in his opinion over the course of the program; Kent State; students at WestConn didn't change much after the incident

(side B):

0-10 minutes: New Faculty; joined the college during the mid 1960s; many were young, mostly men; not sure about the impact of the new faculty had on college; Generation gap; may have been some by students; he didn't feel there was one; general attitude was liberal and not against student beliefs necessarily; Dr. Greenwald was the same way as him; the gap came from those who came from the teacher's college time; these faculty were more focused on teacher education; Dr. Haas stayed out of the way potential gap; Dr. Haas and how she viewed change of the college; her attitude was you didn't disrupt the status quo;

10-15 minutes: Dr. Haas as president; she was overall a liberal woman; must have had a great deal of difficulty in her position; she had to deal w/ the state a lot; as faculty increased, they had ideas and had to adjust to them