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- Title:
- Samuel Parker interview
- Interviewee:
- Parker, Samuel K.
- Interviewer:
- Williams, Charles Thomas
- Date Created:
- 2018-01-31
- Role:
- Faculty
- Department:
- Liberal Studies; School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Science
- Subjects:
- Pierce County Arts Commission Charles Moore charbagh Mughal gardens Vicky Carwein nontraditional students MAIS Global Honors interdisciplinary education curriculum planning
- Biography:
- Samuel Parker is a founding faculty member at the University of Washington Tacoma. He teaches cultural studies, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific, in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (formerly Liberal Studies). In April 1990, he was among the 13 founding faculty who planned the University's initial curriculum over a three-day conference. Over the years, he has been dedicated in leading the charge to establish an interdisciplinary master of arts program, which finally materialized as Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2001. Before joining UW Tacoma, he was a visiting lecturer in anthropology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He received his PhD in anthropology from University of Chicago in 1989. He completed his bachelor's and two master's degrees at University of Hawaii and taught art history there over several summers. His fieldwork has taken him to Bali and India, where he studied the visual culture of the Hindu temple and its contemporary construction and use, particularly in contexts such as cultural tourism.
- Description:
- In this interview, Samuel Parker reminisces about the early days of University of Washington Tacoma and explains the decisions that eventually led to a more departmentalized approach to academic programs. He notes an increased preoccupation with accountability and management structures on the institution's part. The interview begins with Parker pointing out reasons that attracted him to UW Tacoma, including the unique interdisciplinary curriculum and the rare opportunity to build an institution from scratch. He describes the dynamic among the initial 13 faculty and their legacy of resistance against the compartmentalization of the University, especially following the creation of a psychology concentration under the first chancellor, Vicky Carwein. He also recalls characteristics of the students who were first to enroll at UW Tacoma and praised their industry and eagerness to learn. The session then turns to the University's relationship with the local community, and Parker mentions joining the Pierce County Arts Commission. He relates this to the revitalization of Downtown Tacoma through the arts. He discusses the work of Charles Moore, remarking that Moore had designed an Indian style garden--charbagh--for the UWT campus based on his previous work on Mughal gardens and Indian gardens. The last part of the interview concentrates on the development of today's Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, in which Parker played an instrumental role. He recalls the process that began in 1990 with the idea for a master's in liberal studies, which developed into a possible inter-program (IP) master's and eventually materialized as the MAIS in 2001. Parker concludes by citing the program to represent what he would like to see in the future of UWT--something unique and interdisciplinary.
- Location:
- United States--Washington (State)--Tacoma United States--Washington (State)--Seattle
- Type:
- Sound; Text; StillImage
- Format:
- cpd
- Preferred Citation:
- University of Washington Libraries, University of Washington Tacoma Library, UWTOH201801