Oral Histories
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See the most recent additions to the Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program collections below, or use the fields at the left to search for interviews by keyword, year, project, or format.
2018 | Audio | Transcript
Academic Secretary
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Marine-Street, Natalie
Interview Date: 2018
Susan Schofield served as Stanford University’s academic secretary from 1996 to 2002. Describing the role of the academic secretary as a “facilitator of faculty governance,” Schofield provides details on the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Academic Secretary and the Faculty Senate. She...
2018 | Audio | Transcript
Law
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Marine-Street, Natalie
Interview Date: 2017
Marc A. Franklin recalls the circumstances, including a chance conversation with Gerry Gunther, that led him to join the faculty of the Stanford Law School in 1962. He offers recollections of the Law School faculty, including Herbert L. Packer, a key mover behind the construction of the Faculty...
2018 | Audio | Video | Transcript
English
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Marine-Street, Natalie
Interview Date: 2017
William M. Chace discusses his involvement with Stanford’s Faculty Senate, including his time as chair during the 1978-1979 term. He discusses the founding of the Faculty Senate, in part, as a response to civil unrest on campus during the Vietnam War. He describes issues that came before the body,...
2018 | Transcript
Economics
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Weiler, Hans
Interview Date: 2016
Kenneth J. Arrow served on the Executive Committee of the Academic Council around the time that the Faculty Senate was proposed and on a sub-committee appointed by the Executive Committee to consider Herbert Packer's proposal regarding the creation of an academic senate. Arrow later chaired the...
2018 | Audio | Video | Transcript
History
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Marine-Street, Natalie
Interview Date: 2017
James J. Sheehan, the chair of the 24th Faculty Senate (1991-92), offers details about the institution’s routine operational procedures and reflects on its function within the university. He compares Stanford’s mode of governance with what he experienced as a faculty member at Northwestern...
2018 | Audio | Transcript
Law
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Weiler, Hans
Interview Date: 2016
Thomas Ehrlich, a former faculty member and dean of the Stanford Law School, discusses the early years of the Stanford Faculty Senate. Ehrlich served on the senate for seven years. He was a member of the first Stanford Faculty Senate in 1968-69, and he served on the Senate Steering Committee and as...
2018 | Audio | Transcript
History
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Marincovich, Michele
Interview Date: 2017
Peter D. L. Stansky, Field Professor of History, Emeritus, and a the chair of the 10th Faculty Senate, delves into the establishment of the Faculty Senate, including the initial memo written by Herbert Packer outlining the plan for the body. He explains the roles of the Academic Council and its...
2018 | Audio | Transcript
Philosophy
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Gifford, Jonathan
Interview Date: 2017
Michael Bratman offers general reflections on the operations of the Stanford Faculty Senate and describes his experience as the chair of the 29th Faculty Senate in 1996-1997. A key topic of the 29th Senate was the reevaluation of the Cultures, Ideas, and Values (CIV) Area One requirement, and...
2018 | Audio | Transcript
Medical School
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Horton, Larry
Interview Date: 2017
Professor Rex Jamison focuses on the Faculty Senate from his perspective as academic secretary to the university from 2007 to 2014. Topics covered include the origins and organization of the senate, the work of the senate chair and committees, and issues that came before the senate during his...
2018 | Audio | Video | Transcript
English
Project(s): Faculty Senate
Interviewer: Marine-Street, Natalie
Interview Date: 2017
Nancy Packer, the Melvin and Bill Lane Professor in the Humanities and Professor of English, Emeritus and a former member of the Faculty Senate, reflects on the career of her husband Herbert L. Packer, who proposed the idea of the Faculty Senate, comments on the campus climate in the 1960s...
