Interview with a Professor: Hilary Tann
Erica Fugger
Issue date: 5/28/09 Section: Features
Professor Hilary Tann is the John Howard Payne Professor of Music.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in one of the better-known coal mining valleys in South Wales-the valley depicted in the book, How Green Was My Valley.
How did you come to teach at Union?
In 1972, I came to Princeton University as a visiting fellow and subsequently completed my PhD there. I taught at Bard College and Williams College before coming to Union in 1980. I guess you could say I made my way north along the Hudson.
How long have you been teaching?
I began teaching in Britain, as an extramural lecturer in the Open University, in 1970.
Have you taught at other colleges?
I've also taught at Kansai Gaidai in Japan, twice, as part of Union's term abroad in Japan, and again at Nanjing Normal University as part of Union's term abroad in China.
Have the students changed over the time you have been teaching at Union, and how has the college itself changed since you first arrived here?
There is much more gender equality at Union these days. When I first came, there were only eight female faculty members on tenure track. The college is larger and the Minerva system has come to the fore. The campus grounds also are much prettier and I enjoy the new buildings, especially the Taylor Music Center. When I first came to Union, the arts were a small post-60s enclave in a college that focused heavily on engineering, pre-med, and political science programs. I've enjoyed the progress as the arts have become more integrated into Union's curriculum. And I've enjoyed the creation of inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary programs.
It's thrilling for me to work with an ethnomusicologist in my own department. From years past, I remember individual, bright, talented, and creative students, and my teaching was exciting because of these individual students. But more recently, now that we have minors, and a new building, and an extended faculty in music, I feel like I am a part of a music community, rather than someone singing on the fringes of the College.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in one of the better-known coal mining valleys in South Wales-the valley depicted in the book, How Green Was My Valley.
How did you come to teach at Union?
In 1972, I came to Princeton University as a visiting fellow and subsequently completed my PhD there. I taught at Bard College and Williams College before coming to Union in 1980. I guess you could say I made my way north along the Hudson.
How long have you been teaching?
I began teaching in Britain, as an extramural lecturer in the Open University, in 1970.
Have you taught at other colleges?
I've also taught at Kansai Gaidai in Japan, twice, as part of Union's term abroad in Japan, and again at Nanjing Normal University as part of Union's term abroad in China.
Have the students changed over the time you have been teaching at Union, and how has the college itself changed since you first arrived here?
There is much more gender equality at Union these days. When I first came, there were only eight female faculty members on tenure track. The college is larger and the Minerva system has come to the fore. The campus grounds also are much prettier and I enjoy the new buildings, especially the Taylor Music Center. When I first came to Union, the arts were a small post-60s enclave in a college that focused heavily on engineering, pre-med, and political science programs. I've enjoyed the progress as the arts have become more integrated into Union's curriculum. And I've enjoyed the creation of inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary programs.
It's thrilling for me to work with an ethnomusicologist in my own department. From years past, I remember individual, bright, talented, and creative students, and my teaching was exciting because of these individual students. But more recently, now that we have minors, and a new building, and an extended faculty in music, I feel like I am a part of a music community, rather than someone singing on the fringes of the College.
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