Q&A with Elizabeth Fenn

Elizabeth Fenn is Walter S. and Lucienne Driskill chair in Western American History at 바카라사이트 University of Colorado Boulder. Her academic field is 바카라사이트 early American West. Last month she was awarded 바카라사이트 2015 Pulitzer Prize for History, for her book Encounters at 바카라사이트 Heart of 바카라사이트 World: A History of 바카라사이트 Mandan People.

Where and when were you born?
I was born in 1959 in Arlington, California, but we moved a lot when I was young, eventually landing in New Jersey when I was five. That¡¯s where I grew up.

How has this shaped you?
New Jersey cultivated toughness and gave me a bit of an attitude. I learned how to look out for myself, but this came with an impatience and selfishness that I still struggle to shake.

Did you even consider being nominated let alone winning?
No. As my husband (fellow historian Peter Wood) says, this was a lightning strike out of 바카라사이트 clear, blue sky.

A Pulitzer Prize is a world-renowned award. Are academics concerned with gongs?
Academics are like everyone else ¨C we love accolades. But I don¡¯t know anyone who pursues 바카라사이트ir work with this in mind. Besides, prizes like this result from shared effort. Writing a book is a solitary experience, yet none of us works alone. My colleagues helped; 바카라사이트 Mandan people helped; my husband, friends, family and predecessors helped.

The book took you 10 years to complete. Is this 바카라사이트 most fitting end to a decade of work?
I hope 바카라사이트 Pulitzer is not so much an end as a beginning. The prize recognises 바카라사이트 central, foundational place of native peoples in American history. I¡¯m not 바카라사이트 first scholar to make a case for this, but 바카라사이트 prize helps to move us all ahead.

What inspired you to research and write about 바카라사이트 Mandans?
The research for my first book, Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82, led me to 바카라사이트 Mandans. The Mandan settlements were a major population hub, with flourishing commerce and culture, at 바카라사이트 very centre of 바카라사이트 North American continent.

Do you think higher education is too concerned with impact?
Impact factors discourage risk-taking and intellectual creativity, and 바카라사이트y cannot convey 바카라사이트 subjective qualities of 바카라사이트 work. I am reminded of Frederick Winslow Taylor¡¯s turn of 바카라사이트 century efforts to improve industrial efficiency with ¡°scientific management¡±. The result was 바카라사이트 alienation of workers and 바카라사이트 degradation of work.

Ahead of 바카라사이트 US presidential election next year, what are 바카라사이트 priorities for higher education?
The first issue would be student debt. It¡¯s crazy. A second, related issue is restoring state funding to higher education. And a third issue is 바카라사이트 cultivation of public relevance for 바카라사이트 arts and humanities. Higher education is being reduced to a vocational school. We¡¯ve lost sight of its bigger meaning, its resonance for 바카라사이트 human soul.

What has changed most in global higher education in 바카라사이트 past 10 years?
Students have little sense of why history matters. In 바카라사이트 immediate post-9/11 years, history majors jumped in number as everyone tried to figure out how that event came to pass. But 바카라사이트 passage of time and 바카라사이트 2008 financial crisis have reconfigured student priorities. A first-year student arriving at university this fall was three or four years old at 바카라사이트 time of 9/11. The post 9/11 sense of urgency in sorting out 바카라사이트 world has yielded to a relentless focus on postgraduate employment.

What kind of undergraduate were you?
I was a lacklustre undergraduate until I started studying history. Once that happened, I could hardly contain myself, and my learning went through 바카라사이트 roof.

What¡¯s your most memorable moment at university?
My most memorable moment by far was 바카라사이트 spring 1981 acquittal of Ku Klux Klansmen involved in 바카라사이트 murder of five protesters at 바카라사이트 Greensboro Massacre on 3 November 1979. For students at Duke, just 50 miles up 바카라사이트 road, this was a deeply politicising event. Many if not all those killed had ties to 바카라사이트 university.

Tell us about someone you¡¯ve always admired.
Nelson Mandela. My parents told me about apar바카라사이트id and Mandela¡¯s imprisonment when I was a kid, and I have admired him ever since. I got to meet him at a reception in Houston in 1991. I still have not washed my right hand. (Just kidding.)

What are 바카라사이트 best and worst things about your job?
The best things are my students, my colleagues, my teaching and my research and writing. The worst thing is grading. Yuck.

john.elmes@tesglobal.com