My guest blogger today is Frank Cronin, one of the presenters for this year’s History Symposium, Transcendentalism. I was eager to have him share his reflections with you about his experience at ACC.
One of my pure joys of teaching at ACC is the many opportunities for collaboration on all levels with faculty in other departments all over the college. These can be teaching collaborations as I’ve done with Math, Speech, and English in various learning communities and paired course offerings. Being at Northridge has allowed me to indulge my interests in music and photography as those departments are housed there. For over a decade I have enjoyed end of semester student concerts and photography exhibits. My lifelong interest in history has led me to another relationship, that with the history department. Since the early 2000s I have attended many talks in the department’s Emeritus Professor Lecture Series (The department’s website has all the talks from 2000 to 2017). In 2005 I spoke to the late Professor Patrick Hughes about my study of Benjamin Franklin and then pointed out to him that 2006 was the tercentennial anniversary of his birth. So, from that conversation, the department decided to focus on the Colonial era with a program entitled A Rebellious and Revolutionary Generation. To my surprise and pleasure, the department allowed me to give a talk, Benjamin Franklin and Slavery, A Man of this Time, A Man Ahead of his Time. The past year I have talked to Professors Cameron Addis and Zoe VanSandt of History about my recent studies of Henry David Thoreau and the Transcendentalists leading to this year’s lecture series on two figures of the Transcendentalist movement. I will give a talk on Thoreau called Other Thoreaus: the Pencil Maker, Surveyor, and Natural Scientist.” Professor VanSant will give a talk, Bronson Alcott: Transcendentalist and Philosophical Father of the Community College. Again, I have been repaid in plenty by pursuing my own academic studies in history in that I get to share my interest in Thoreau and sharing the stage with Professor VanSandt.
Thanks for your contributions to the ACC community, Frank!
Join us for the History Symposium, 7:30 PM, Thursday, February 15, 2018, room 8500 at the Eastview Campus.
