Palm Court Podcast

Onè! Respè! The Fight for Academic Freedom at New College with Dr. Amy Reid

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In this episode of the Palm Court Podcast, hosts Mike Palmer, Megan Cytron, and Grant Balfour are joined by Dr. Amy Reid, a long-standing faculty member of New College, former Board of Trustees member, and recent collaborator with PEN America. We discuss the impact of recent political upheavals on the college, Dr. Reid's extensive contributions to the institution over 29 years, and her reflections on New College's unique educational environment. Dr. Reid also shares her personal story and perspective, transition to PEN America, advocacy for academic freedom, and her role in supporting and representing the New College community. The conversation delves into an insider's view of the hostile takeover and resistance and the broader implications for higher education in Florida and beyond.


NOTES:

  • Dr. Reid profiled in Ms. Magazine. 
  • Traci Ardren is now an anthropological archaeologist at the University of Miami.
  • Chris Coldren is now Senior Scientific Director, Bioinformatics at Pathgroup. 
  • Amy's other two NCF alum roommates were Sharon Cload, who's a Bristol Myers Squib and Mike Owens (who is Traci's partner & a lawyer )
  • Jeffrey Hixson was a respected professor of French and rhetoric. 
  • Prior part-time faculty on PCP include Jono Miller and Dan Harrison. 
  • There was never a gender-studies department at New College (despite some heated claims otherwise, including by the college’s own trustees); it was, instead an interdisciplinary program consisting of classes taught in several departments. As of November 2024, Gender Studies still appeared on the official list of AOCs alongside Biopsychology, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Neuroscience … but with an asterisk saying it would not be offered to students entering after fall 2023. While some courses are still being taught, many are not, because so many professors in different departments have left. 
  • HB233 is a Florida law, currently being challenged in the courts, that allows students to surreptitiously record professors for evidence in lawsuits, among other things. 
  • Faculty trustee & computer scientist Matthew Lepinski dramatically quit in the middle of a meeting when the board denied tenure to seven approved candidates - “like jumping off a cliff.”
  • The “day DeSantis came to sign SB266” was covered in our Libby Harrity episode. 
  • Tampa Bay Times, “A Semester Inside the Siege,” 16 Aug 2023. 
  • À rebours, by Joris-Karl Huysmans, is a “wild and gloomy fantasy” that inspired Oscar Wilde, the Surrealists, and generations of later artists. 
  • The 44-person portable dorms nicknamed “Banyan Boxes” were meant to replace the uninhabitable Pei dorms, but were themselves rendered uninhabitable by Hurricane Milton. 
  • Dr. Heidi Harley is a dolphin researcher who had won Department of Defense grants prior to the takeover. 
  • Reid on translation. 
  • A few of Reid’s publications, as well as novels by Patrice Nganang, Blaise Ndala, Mutt-Lon, Véronique Tadjo, Marie-Celie Agnant, among others. 
  • “Onè … Respè” is “Honor … Respect,” a traditional greeting and response in Haitian Creole.


    • TIME STAMPS:

    00:00 Welcome to the Palm Court Podcast

    00:47 Introducing Dr. Amy Reid

    01:41 Amy's Journey to New College

    04:50 Teaching at New College

    07:35 Building the Gender Studies Program

    11:46 Challenges and Changes at New College

    15:24 Board of Trustees Experience

    21:35 Working with PEN America

    31:07 Reflections and Future of New College

    39:39 Final Thoughts and Farewell

    ...more
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    Palm Court PodcastBy Palmer Media