The Capital Times
Patterson to retire from PSH
Continued from page 1
upper-level junior-senior-grad school. This
was and still is a good place for discussing
an expansion of topics. It’s more difficult now
to have that opportunity outside of the class
room. People are busier, and there are great
distances many people are traveling to get to
and from the campus.”
Over the years, Dr. Patterson says that he
found certain students moe condusive to a
free-wheeling discussion format. “I have en
joyed sharing ideas with a different type of
student, one who has done a lot of living and
is returning to school. Some one who has
other life experience to share, rather than just
sit back and take notes.”
He says that he understands a slower ex
ploration of various majors and that the rea
son he chose to focus his doctoral on Ameri
can Studies after undergrad and grad work
Dr. Graham says "good bye"
Continued from page 1
classes six days a week that first year. It be
came her minor. By the second year, howr
ever, she had moved on past the romanticism
of reporting and explored the sciences. “I was
contemplating medicine or zoology.”
Although Dr. Graham did well academi
cally in every subject, science did not seem
to be the right direction to be heading.
“People thought of me as scholarly, but I did
not see myself that way. I just loved reading
Middle English and Chaucer.” In her third
year she transferred to Rutgers University and
focused on English as a major. “I wanted to
major in philosophy but a professor told me
that there were very few women philosophy
teachers,” she says.
In her senior year, she got her first taste of
American literature from R.W. Lewis, who
was a visiting professor from Yale. It proved
to be a grounding force in her direction as
she continued to pursue higher degrees, but
first she thought of teaching. “I wanted to give
back and not be a leech. I wanted to try to do
something better than what I had gotten up
until then,” she says.
One person who hit upon Dr. Graham’s
sympathy of career-changes was Jane
Mikoni. She was a print and broadcast jour
nalist at the State Capitol for twelve years
when she decided to attempt to learn a more
literary way of writing through the Humani
ties Graduate School at Penn State Harris
burg. “I credit her for helping me to discover
that way of writing that I had not explored
before. I took a poetry workshop that she of
fered and I began to write poetry for the first
time. I often write poetry now. She spends a
lot of time editing her student’s work. She
has very high standards but she connects with
what’s positive in her student’s work and
maintains a respect for their writing. She
in Government and Folklore was that
“American Studies students are people who
go diffemt places; they combine different
majors, and a lot of different interests. To
study American culture expands to a lot of
different interests rather than lead to an ob
vious career outcome.”
Dr. Patterson has held a personal interest
in Civil War history which is evidenced by
many of the courses that he has taught, even
conducting some courses on site at Gettsburg.
He also is on the Gettsburg National Mili
tary Park Advisory Commission (affiliated
with Gettsburg, not PSH.) Although he was
in the U.S. Army for six months in the early
1960’5, he does not teach courses on this sub
ject as a war buff. “As an American Studies
professor, the focus of a lot of course mate
rial falls into the nineteenth century, which
includes the the Civil War,” he says. “I am
interested in the Civil War as a place, a sym-
would often write a full page of type-written
commentary on the back of my papers, but I
found this to be more valuable than a grade,”
says Jane, who is now a teacher at Penn State
Harrisburg and also the Director of the Capi
tal Area Writing Project, which serves to
improve the teaching of writing by teachers
in the classroom.
When Dr. Graham first taught at Penn State
University at the main campus at University
Park from 1965-69, she was
one of three or four women
in an English Department of
over one hundred men. She
came to Penn State at Har-
risburg in its infancy in
1970.
In continuance with her
trailblazing choices, she
says “It was very experi
mental and innovative with
the interdisciplinary ap
proach to courses being
taught. I thought it a great
opportunity to work on cur
riculum design.”
Another professor who holds Dr. Graham
responsible for inspiring him to achieve
something personally novel is Dr. Troy Tho
mas, an art history at Penn State Harrisburg.
He credits Dr. Graham with his moving into
a more interdisciplinary approach to incor
porating literature with his own art courses.
“She is a first-rate teacher. I learned how to
approach text with her. I was amazed at how
she got students to analyze difficult Works
and to see various levels of meaning,” he said.
“I tried writing poetry myself, but it did not
take long to see I wasn’t good at it. I analyze
literature quite a bit on my own, however,
NEWS
bol of conflicts in American culture. You have
this peaceful pastoral landscape in contrast
with the violence of war. I’m still exploring
the ideas of how one symbol can be identi
fied as the other.”
His favorite courses to teach have been
“Pivotal Books,” “The American Renais
sance,” and “Snap Shot Moments in Time,”
a Twentieth century grad course. “I also used
to teach a course on Popular Drama,” he says.
“We would do bad 19th century military dra
mas.”
Major changes he’s observed over the years
have been obviously in the exterior (“It no
longer looks so obviously like an Air Force
base,”he says ) and more subtly in the inte
rior. “There is an encroaching beurocracy of
the University, a drive to standardization.
Like a lot of other institutions in society, there
are downsizing tendencies where you get less
for more. When things are no longer imagi
native, it’s not much fun to bother with,” he
says gently and wistfully.
“Fun” is a word that he uses to describe his
since working with her.”
In 1971 she began Tamhelm, which is Penn
State Harrisburg’s literary and arts annual
magazine. Evety year a panel of students who
join Tamhelm’s staff vote on undergraduate,
graduate and faculty entries for this publica
tion. She has served as its faculty advisor
since its inception. Kim Glass, a senior com
munications student who served a vice presi
dent of the Tamhelm staff this year, and also
served on its staff last year, credits Dr. Gra
ham for her getting involved
with the magazine. “She has
bpen wonderful to work
with. She campaigns hard
every year to encourage ev
eryone to at least try to sub
mit something for consider
ation in the magazine. It will
be hard to get someone who
has given as much as she
does to this magazine in
coming years.”
Dr. William Mahar, who is
the head of the Humanities
Department at Penn State
Harrisburg, agrees that it will be very diffi
cult to hire new professors of her caliber. “She
is a gracious, thoughtful, dedicated profes
sor,” he says. “Whatever she did, she did with
distinction here over and above routine work
She has gone to great lengths to nominate stu
dents for awards that would otherwise go
unrewarded without her efforts.”
Dr. Mahar says that he found a new direc
tion for his pursuit of music education when
she asked him to write various articles. “I
found her editorial skills very helpful. She
would write ‘SWYM’ (Say What You Mean)
across the top and even if I had to send it
back to her ten times, she kept my writer’s
Wednesday, April 21,1999 3
criteria for what he chooses to do both on
and off campus. He founded the Susquehanna
Folk Music Society in 1985, and contirtues
to serve a the President. This organization
sponsers monthly concert and dance series
as well as an apprentice shop in traditional
folk music.
Besides his radio show, which he would like
to see developed on other public radio sta
tions, Dr. Patterson is open to exploring new
avenues for his interests, especially writing
about topics he enjoys that he has not had
time for. “I will miss good classes, I will not
miss bad classes. It has been more fun than
anything. I am not burned out or tired of it. I
do not feel in sync with what others want
done versus what I want to do.
Nor are his colleagues tired of him. “It is
obvious to say that he is irreplaceable,” said
his close friend as well as his frequent Lion’s
Den lunchmate, Dr. Michael Barton of the
Humanities Department. “He’s left a big dent
and it’s going to be hard to fix.”
voice but made it stronger.” Dr. Mahar also
played a joke on her for many years when he
anonymously placed a box of Nabisco
“Teddy Grahams” cookies on her desk. “She
may have figured it out, but I don’t know if
she ever knew it was me,” he says with a sly
smile.
In May, she will clean out her desk, care
fully sorting through items to bring memo
ries home of the years she has spent here.
When she closes her door for the last time,
taking her nameplate along, she will not be
heading for a conventional retirement of ease.
“My hobbies have been on hold,” she says.
“I plan to explore my interests in travel, gar
dening, and gourmet cooking. I’d like to go
to more theatre shows and jazz concerts. I’ll
also be doing freelance and academic writ
ing, editing, and maybe travel writing.”
She looks off into the distance, caught up
in her plans and dreams. Then she focuses
on the book-lined walls of her office. “I will
miss the lively, vital exchanges that I have
with students and colleagues. It’s one of the
best cocktail parties you’ll ever attend- you’ll
not get these kinds of conversations outside
of here,” she says. “The last thing that I write
on a student’s paper is ‘Thanks for a good
read.’ That I will miss. “
Classified: Thousand Trails Resort
is accepting applications for paid
internships in the Recreation
department. Room and board is
available in leiu of wages. Contact
Nikki Luecker at (717) 867-5625.
Location: 493 S. Pleasant Road,
Lebanon; off of Rt. 322 just past
Hershey and Campbelltown.