2008 Woodie Awards
BC flows with intelligent life
Three BC professors discuss the subject of intellectualism associated with the college and city.
Maryann Kopp
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News
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The issue of whether intellectualism is thriving or even exists in Bakersfield has long since been a topic for debate. The level of intellectual activity on the Bakersfield College campus is no exception.
When asked about how they perceived how BC fared in terms of intelligence, overall, professors Reggie Williams, Rene Trujillo and Randy Beeman were all optimistic.
"I am happy to respond to your inquiry by noting that intellectualism is alive and well among our faculty and our students," Beeman began.
He went on to mention different BC faculty members who not only contributed to the campus in terms of cultivating "intellectual inquiry and achievement that transcended the classroom experience," as the first president of BC, Grace Van Dyke Bird, had, but also reached beyond BC to publish books or even have plays they have written and performed on Broadway, much like the late Frank Wattron.
"Today we have an array of faculty who keep this intellectual tradition alive," Beeman continued. "Dr. Reggie Williams is publishing at a level that would lead him to tenure at an Ivy League school, and Dr. Ed Barton in the English Department is the author of a literary glossary used around the country in English courses. Many of our faculty, such as Gloria Dumler in the English Department, are long time supporters of the arts here in the community."
Beeman, a history instructor, has also published a book alongside many articles while teaching at BC, and assures that he has "continued to work as a scholar on the national and international level."
Williams, while admitting that Bakersfield "definitely doesn't have enough intellectualism," also had plenty of positive things to say about the overall state of things at BC.
"I love ideas," said Williams, a philosophy instructor. "What gets me interested in my ideas and part of what I have had published in philosophy journals have emerged from discussions in class."
Williams, in fact, had a paper on affirmative action published in 2005, which was inspired by a question a former student of his brought up in class, whom he was sure to thank in his first footnote.
When asked about how they perceived how BC fared in terms of intelligence, overall, professors Reggie Williams, Rene Trujillo and Randy Beeman were all optimistic.
"I am happy to respond to your inquiry by noting that intellectualism is alive and well among our faculty and our students," Beeman began.
He went on to mention different BC faculty members who not only contributed to the campus in terms of cultivating "intellectual inquiry and achievement that transcended the classroom experience," as the first president of BC, Grace Van Dyke Bird, had, but also reached beyond BC to publish books or even have plays they have written and performed on Broadway, much like the late Frank Wattron.
"Today we have an array of faculty who keep this intellectual tradition alive," Beeman continued. "Dr. Reggie Williams is publishing at a level that would lead him to tenure at an Ivy League school, and Dr. Ed Barton in the English Department is the author of a literary glossary used around the country in English courses. Many of our faculty, such as Gloria Dumler in the English Department, are long time supporters of the arts here in the community."
Beeman, a history instructor, has also published a book alongside many articles while teaching at BC, and assures that he has "continued to work as a scholar on the national and international level."
Williams, while admitting that Bakersfield "definitely doesn't have enough intellectualism," also had plenty of positive things to say about the overall state of things at BC.
"I love ideas," said Williams, a philosophy instructor. "What gets me interested in my ideas and part of what I have had published in philosophy journals have emerged from discussions in class."
Williams, in fact, had a paper on affirmative action published in 2005, which was inspired by a question a former student of his brought up in class, whom he was sure to thank in his first footnote.
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