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Fred Svoboda: I'm a professor and chair of the English department and a faculty member
in the MLS. I have three degree from that other school down the road, Michigan State.
M. Jan Furman: I am a professor of English. I teach early American literature here and
my research area encompasses early America as well, but also women writers and in fact
my next project will be a revision of a Morrison Critical Study that I've done for the University
of South Carolina Press. Lauren Friesen: My educational background
includes a BA degree in history and philosophy, a masters degree in theatre and religion,
and a PhD in playwriting, history, and directing. This is now my 14th year at the University
of Michigan-Flint. I'm the chair of the Theatre Department and responsible for essentially
the things that happen in this program. Fred Svoboda: So I took this job at U of M-Flint
not knowing if it would be permanent or not, that was 1980 and I have been there, been
here ever since. M. Jan Furman: You'll be interested in knowing
that I've been here for 35 years. I came all those years ago because my family came here,
my husband was coming for work. Lauren Friesen: I chose to teach in the Liberal
Studies Program because I um, have a speciality in American Drama and there was a class that
already existed in American Drama and they approached me and said would you want to teach
that class? Fred Svoboda: From the standpoint of being
a faculty member the thing I like about it is that it offers a strong teaching institution
but it also expects strong publication. M. Jan Furman: MLS has been sort of housed
in English because the directors have been English faculty. In fact the program was started
by English faculty, English and history faculty. Fred Svoboda: I like the students a lot. Uh,
the thing about U of M-Flint students is that while many of them are from first generation
college student backgrounds, they've got a really good work ethic. It's much easier to
teach people like that in fact, I mean one of the nice things about teaching here is
that you can be in a graduate class, and you can have other people taking the class from
you who already have advanced degrees. M. Jan Furman: Many students come in already
employed in the work they will continue to do and so they like this program not necessarily
because it's going to advance them in their work, but it gives them that credential.
Fred Svoboda: Years ago I had a student and he was taking an American Drama class from
me and every once in a while I would get an email from him or a phone call and he said
'Well I have to go teach class at MIT tonight. Can I miss class?' and I'd say 'Okay, John,
you can miss class, it'll probably be okay.' Lauren Friesen: I don't find any other liberal
arts program that has such a broad spectrum and yet such committed people. It really gives
students a wide array of courses and they're all taught by fairly well-established professors.
Fred Svoboda: Another thing that's very interesting is the extent to which there is a big range
of possible courses and so you're getting the opportunity to have a much wider experience
than in many graduate programs. M. Jan Furman: If you're interested in the
liberal arts, especially liberal studies, than you can take courses in English and history
and the social sciences. Lauren Friesen: I think the best part of the
program is if you want to learn for learning's sake. A number of courses are so diverse and
yet cover the humanities in such a profound way, that one grows by taking these courses.
Fred Svoboda: A lot of people will do original research for the MLS--community history, community
sociology kinds of things where they don't just spend time in the library but they spend
time teaching to people who have done the things that they're interested in. Come and
talk to the faculty. We have open houses run by the Graduate Office pretty regularly.
M. Jan Furman: Whenever we have an open house there is faculty there. They will saunter
over because they're just interested in looking at the students that may show up.
Fred Svoboda: You can come, you can talk to the faculty, you can email the faculty. This
is a fairly small place, so it's not very hard to get in touch with faculty the way
it would be at a big institution. Talk about your interests and find out if there is a
place for you to pursue those interests here. It's a very individualized program, there's
a place for a lot of people, and you've got to come and find it.
Lauren Friesen: I don't know of any other program as unique as this. There are so many
avenues they can go from here and I've just seen that happen over and over again. It is
not the final step in their journey.