MAGAZINE

MARCH 23, 2016

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An interview with Margaret Barnhart from the Department of Language & Literature You are a member of the faculty at DSU. What do you teach? And what do you like best about teach-ing that subject? Margaret Barnhart teaches General Education courses within the Depart-ment of Language and Literature in-cluding College Composition I, College Composition II, Mythology, and occa-sionally Introduction to Literature. · Ever since I tried to teach myself to read at age 4, I have loved words. I

love how they can be artfully put to-gether to create images and ideas and stories. · Along with the love of word-craft is reading; there is so much aesthetic pleasure in reading literary works. · Though most of the students I have in class do not necessarily share my love of reading, writing, and word interplay, I enjoy sharing my passion and encouraging students to find the power and the treasures words hold. How did you end up teaching at DSU?

Back in 1991 or 1992, while I was Exec-utive Director of a local arts agency, I received a phone call from Dr. Solheim, Department Chair. He had been one of my instructors, my advisor and my mentor when I returned to college in 1987 to complete my undergraduate degree. At the time DSU experienced a shortage of teachers for some GEN. ED. courses. Dr. Solheim was well-acquainted with my ability and my classroom skill, so he offered me a tem-porary position as an adjunct instructor teaching one or two sections per semes-ter. Twenty-five years later, I am still here teaching full time. Did you also have prior teaching

MARGARET BARNHART

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MARGARET BARNHART

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 . . . experience and/or what other ca-reers have you had? I married in 1974 just after my junior year in college. For the next fifteen years I was a stay-at-home mom, rais-ing three daughters. When our young-est daughter started school, I too re-turned to school to complete the degree I’d started in the previous decade. Pri-or to my teaching at DSU, I had a num-ber of what I consider incidental work experiences to help make ends meet—and to pay off college loans. A part-time leadership position opened for me—executive director of Dickinson’s Arts on the Prairie. The position was to

last for 6 months as the agency consid-ered continuation. Under my leader-ship, the agency became more viable, and after 14 years I left to teach full time at DSU. In the meantime, I also engaged in independent contract activi-ties: week-long writing residencies at state elementary or high schools; coor-dinator of a summertime performing arts camp; creative-writing coordinator/instructor at International Music Camp. How many years have you been at DSU and how have students changed in that time? I have been at DSU for a quarter of a century! (Good heavens! How is that

possible?) It’s true: time does fly when one is having fun). How have students changed? I believe that in essentials they are very much the same—fresh out of high school, seeking a path to a promising future, some struggling with their new-found independence and making unwise decisions, others suc-ceeding. In the years, I have experi-enced greater diversity of students on campus. Students today were born in the digital age and know it, and the convenience and ease of technologies has been part of their lifelong learning and play. That experiential difference from students a generation ago is quite noticeable. Where did you grow up, go to high

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 . . . school and what is one of the fond-est memories of your youth? I grew up in Richardton, just 23 miles east of where I live now. I attended St. Mary’s Grade school for 8 years and then St. Mary’s High School for 3 years until it closed in 1970. My last year of high school I attended St. Mary’s in New England. My intention had been to attend Assumption College in Rich-

ardton as well. In the spring of my sen-ior year of high school, I even had my Assumption College acceptance letter and a verbal assurance that I could be co-editor of the college newspaper (I was interested in journalism at the time). A few days later the college an-nounced its permanent closure. Since then all the St. Mary-schools I attended have closed. I sometimes think of my-self as a kind of “Typhoid Margaret for schools named for Mary.” All I can say is University of Mary owes me a debt of

gratitude for never attending there. :-) I have many fond memories of my youth, and some of them can be found in an upcoming book Home for Supper, which will be published by Buffalo Commons Press before the end of 2016 (I hope). Here is a minor one: as a jun-ior in high school, I asked permission to write a column for the Echo, St. Mary’s newspaper. The column became known as “Marnie’s Miscellany”. (Don’t even ask about the nickname. It was short-

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 . . . lived). I so enjoyed writing it. I recall sitting in a history class one morning when the school principal walked in. She held a piece of paper in her hand, asked me to come to the front of the room and read it. With dread and un-certainty I stepped forward, wondering what I’d done that warranted public censure. What I read was an award announcement. My column had been awarded first place in a contest I didn’t even know I’d entered! You are also very involved in Dick-inson Community Theater. How did you become an actor? And

what is it you like about acting? Like many actors, I am a natural intro-vert, shy and clumsy when meeting new people. I discovered my talent first by discovering my voice. I have a natu-ral skill for oral interpretation. When I realized that, I found an interest in por-trayal of characters outside myself. I love crawling into the skin of another character and bringing her to life for audiences. My most recent effort was a dream role: Mother Watts in The Trip to Bountiful. (You missed a stellar per-formance! I’m not trying to boast, but I know from audience response that I hit this one out of the ballpark.) As most of us know, the opportunity for

good roles wanes after one ages. There just aren’t as many great roles for old women as there are for young women. Pat and I have a new dream acting goal: to perform together in On Golden Pond—if we can find a director and a venue. In your teaching career you've probably adjusted your teaching methods as you've gained more ex-perience and found what seems to work better. How have your teach-ing methods changed over the years? Teaching methods are bound to change. One changes methods based upon what one discovers works well or does not

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 . . . work at all. Obviously, one of the big-gest changes between my first years and my current years is the growth of and inclusion of technology. I use cer-tain technologies every day now. On-line teaching has also become more in demand; however, I maintain that the best classroom experience for both teacher and student is the face-to-face interaction. You are also a writer/author and wrote a book about your father's

World War II experiences. What prompted you to do that? What did you learn in that process? And how was the experience overall? When I was clearing out some papers in my parents’ home after they moved to a senior-apartment unit, I found a ques-tionnaire from an organization of Ex-POWs. My father’s answers were on the questionnaire. I also discovered a few typed pages recording a little of Dad’s memories as well as a 1943-44 Military Intelligence Report of condi-tions at Stalag IIB in Germany. Read-

ing this once again (I had helped my father with the questionnaire decades earlier), I realized that his story was remarkable and needed to be told. At age 87, my dad had already suffered a stroke and heart disease. His memory was not what it used to be—or—he was unwilling to remember some things I asked him about. I realized that I could not write a memoir for him. Still, the story seemed too remarkable to be put away, so I fictionalized it—retaining character truth and historical accuracy. What I learned is how difficult it is for

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 . . . an unknown author to get work pub-lished. I learned that I do have a skill with words and can tell a story that is more than a few pages in length. I learned a great deal about World War II and about American POWs in Ger-many. I will always be proud of the book. Sometimes I think I worked un-der some mystic inspiration because as I re-read my own book, I am amazed that I could have created a realistic, credible story of American men, prison-ers in a world war—I, a woman, who have not experienced anything of what the story is about. The experience was a labor of love. I am only sorry that my father did not live to see, read, or hear the book read to him.

Between the time that a student arrives at DSU and then graduates, what is it you hope they would learn during that process, in the classroom, on campus and in life? I always hope they learn the im-portance of good writing and communi-cation skills, not only in the classroom, but in their professional careers, what-ever that profession turns out to be. I hope that they learn to be open to ide-as, not to be locked into beliefs or opin-ions simply because of tradition, but to think critically to affirm or change what needs to be changed. I want them to remember their time at DSU as a positive learning experience that helped them to grow in knowledge,

in understanding, in tolerance, in cour-age, and in respect—for themselves, others, and for the world. What might be the most frustrating part of your job? By far, most frustrating is administra-tive details: reports, assessments, com-mittee meetings. What might be the best part? The best is the classroom part—the en-gagement with the students. Not every day is perfect of course. Some days are tedious and disappointing, but in the long run it is the students who make teaching worth-while.