Jeanette Springer has been away from the cold for some time, and her reintroduction to winter in Schenectady this year was “a singularly unpleasant experience.”
Springer, a native of Antigua and a resident of Barbados since 1974, left the warmth of home to spend a year abroad as the Fulbright Scholar in Residence at Union.
Springer is teaching two courses, “Contemporary Caribbean Women Writers,” which looks at the work, both novels
and short stories, of such writers as Merle Hodge, Olive Senior, Jamaica Kincaid, and Zee Edgell, and “Women in Black Literature,” which focuses on the work of writers such as Jean Rhys, Joan Riley, and Ama Ata Aidoo as well as a few male writers who present significant portraits of black women.
Springer loves teaching about these writers and their work. “I like seeing people like me in literature,” she says. For most of the students the material is novel. “They seem to be enjoying it, since it's new to most of them.”
She also is taking courses, which lets her research her
“black cousins” from Africa, America, England, and Canada as well as expand her general knowledge. She has taken French, photography, “Voice for the Stage,” and a creative writing class. She says that she enjoys having the opportunity to take classes to “improve as both a teacher and a person.”
This is not Springer's first stay in the United States. She was an undergraduate at Hampton University in Virginia and a graduate student at the University of Indiana. She did Ph.D. work at the University of British Columbia.
In Barbados, Springer is head of the English department at Barbados Community College, teaching Chaucer and modern world literature and doing research in Caribbean women's literature, on which she's written several papers and given several lectures.
The latter is what brought her to Union. Last year, Sharon Gmelch, professor of anthropology and director of the women's studies program, was awarded a grant from the Council for International Educational Exchange to bring a Fulbright scholar to campus. Springer sent course outlines and her qualifications and was chosen for the fellowship as Fulbright lecturer in Caribbean women's literature.
Teaching at Union has been enjoyable for Springer, but it has also posed some challenges. “Like students everywhere, there are those at Union who don't always do their homework or do it carelessly. But then, of course, there are the students who study hard and produce work of high quality,” she says.
Springer has encountered some “culture shock” when it comes to classroom etiquette in the United States. She says that at Union students leave the classroom the minute time is up, even if she is in the middle of a sentence. In Barbados, students wait until she has finished speaking before leaving, even when class time is over.
She has also faced some difficulty in relation to the short length of the terms at Union. Since her courses are open to students from all majors, she must cover the material with reference to social problems and issues while making sure that the students first understand literary techniques-a real challenge in such a short period of time.
Overall, Springer has enjoyed her experience in Schenectady minus the snow and cold weather, of course. She will be happy to return to Barbados at the end of June, but for the moment is quite comfortable at Union. “This is a nice change of environment and lifestyle,” she says.