Caryn Chaden '76
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- Caryn ChadenCaryn: My name is Caryn Chaden. I currently live in Chicago, Illinois. I'm a member of the Grinnell class of 1976. And do you ask, or...?
- Rachel GlassRachel: I can if you want me to, or you can just go through.
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: Oh. Was there a professor, student or staff member who had a particularly strong influence on my life? There were a number. A very important person was Peter Connelly, who I had for English classes. I ended up becoming an 18th century literature professor in his footsteps and because of him I came- It was important while I was- He was important to me while I was at Grinnell, but he was more important to me almost after I left for I kept in touch with him. He gave me guidance about dissertation topics that would be useful on the job market. And when DePaul had- DePaul. I teach at DePaul now.
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: When Grinnell had its sesquicentennial, he invited me and two other alums who had been students of his, who all- The three of us had become 18th century literature professors, and the three of us came back and did a short course for the sesquicentennial. And then we were asked to talk about how 18th century studies had changed since we were in school, and so everything we did was about women's literature because that hadn't been what we were taught. But the last day of our seminar we had the students read an essay by Samuel Monk, who was a famous 18th century scholar who happened to be Peter Connelly's director. And the- and the article was about the profession of being an 18th and so that morning
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: there were four generations of teachers and scholars in the room. He came to the class, and it- I'll remember it my whole life, and it's sort of especially poignant because he died- Peter died a couple years after that. So, he was a very very important person for me. What are- my best memories of my time in Grinnell were actually in the summers. I- I stayed and worked in Grinnell for two summers that I was here. I- During the school year I volunteered at the local daycare center- not the college one, the town one, and in the summers I had a full-time job there, conducting a kind of day camp for the older siblings of the little kids who were there all the time. And- Getting to
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: know people in town, and getting to see the town of Grinnell independent of the college and riding my bike in the middle of the night, and riding in- in the cornfields at- you know on the roads through the- with cornfields on either side, at dusk with- with fireflies in the cornfields are really important memories for me. And those are also memories of the town for me. 'What's no longer available on campus?' I like the new- the new JRC. I like the dining hall but the coffee shop- whatever it's called, Spencer's?- the Forum replacement, I don't like. And I don't like it because
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: it only looks inward, and what's missing now that the Forum is gone is a place on campus where you can sit and either look out the window or sit on the front deck and watch the campus go by, and watch people, you know, walk around and get kind of a big view of the whole place, and- and I hope that in the future as plans are made for what to do with the Forum and that- that site, and what to do with the library, that somehow that function is restored, because I think it's- though I think the new building is lovely and the dining hall and all of that is lovely, I think that that's an important loss that I hope is- is restored.
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: If I knew what I know now, what would I have done differently during my time at Grinnell college? I would have danced more. One of the things that is that- I've come to all other reunions except for one. This is my thirty-fifth year reunion and what's in just been such a joy is that I'm better now at being social than I was when I was eighteen and so it's- every time we have these reunions- My class is a real dancey class and we dance every time and it's such a joy and it's something I should have done more when I was here. What else do I have? What book influenced me most in college?
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: I guess Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions. I had- Pete Smith was my freshman seminar teacher for Light and Lasers. He left Grinnell the same time I did, but that book actually ended up having an influence in my scholarly life, as well as my college life. I guess those are the- I answered the question. More questions you want me to answer?
- Rachel GlassRachel: Well, I mean, if you have more you want to talk about, please do.
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: No, I think I answered all of the ones that I need to answer. My favorite place on campus- My favorite place on campus isn't here any more. My favorite place on campus was the physics seminar room. I did a lot of studying there, but I love the new science building, so that's
- Caryn ChadenCaryn: not such a terrible loss. So Grinnell- it's changed. I don't know how it's changed in its, you know, in its core. It feels a little different. I think the stuff that's going on in town is a wonderful, wonderful thing and I hope Grinnell does more to connect with the town. The things that they've done are great and I hope they continue to do more.
Alumni oral history interview with Caryn Chaden '76. Recorded June 5, 2010.