For students that didn’t get a chance to work with you, what was your job and what did you do for the Cinema and Media Studies Department?
I am currently the department administrator, the person who manages the business of the department such as budgets, payroll, and curriculum. In past years I worked more directly with students as both the graduate advisor and undergraduate advisor.
What have you enjoyed most about your job?
There are so many things that I have enjoyed while working in CMS, but what I have enjoyed the most are the people. I have been lucky to work with creative, interesting, and highly intelligent faculty, staff, and students.
When and why did you decide to become an administrator?
It was really more of something that happened to me than something I decided to do! I was attracted to working at the UW because I love the academic environment.
How did you land here at UW and specifically at the CMS Department?
I started working in this department in 1991 when it was the Department of Comparative Literature. I had recently completed a M.A. in French (also here at UW), so Comparative Literature was a good fit for me.
I saw on your profile that you studied Studio Art and French during your time in college, how have those studies influenced your career?
After I completed my B.A. in Studio Art, I worked in art galleries in Turin, Italy and Portland, Oregon before taking a job at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. The job at Cornish inspired me to go back to school at UW to pursue my M.A. in French.
What is your favorite CMS memory?
My favorite recent memory was attending a screening of student films from Warren Etheredge's screenwriting class at the Majestic Theater in Ballard a couple of years ago. It was such a thrill to see how our department allows students to use their creativity and the skills and knowledge they acquire in our classes to produce films of their own.