00;00;00;16 - 00;00;25;00
Darice
So welcome, everyone, to another exciting season of your College Voices podcast. My name is Darice Corey and I'm thrilled to be your host today, guiding you through the captivating stories and diverse voices that make up the vibrant tapestry of your college. So as we embark on season two of our podcast, Journey, we're diving deeper into the rich and dynamic world of Yale College staff members.

00;00;25;02 - 00;01;02;09
Darice
From advisors to administrators, mentors to mentors. Each individual plays a vital role in shaping the unparalleled experience that is your college. So today we have the distinct honor of welcoming a special guest who needs no introduction among the Yale College community. And it's none other than Dean Pericles Lewis. So welcome, Dean Louis. Thanks, Doris. So. So Dean Lewis is a stalwart supporter of our podcast from its inception last year, and we're truly honored to have him join us for the premiere episode of our second season.

00;01;02;12 - 00;01;24;18
Darice
So throughout this episode, we're going to explore Dean Lewis's remarkable journey, his vision for the future of Yale college, and his unwavering commitment to supporting students and staff alike. Get ready to be inspired as we explore insights and perspectives of one of Yale colleges most influential leaders. So thank you again for for joining us today.

00;01;24;24 - 00;01;27;02
Pericles
It's really a pleasure. Thanks for having me.

00;01;27;06 - 00;01;47;17
Darice
Awesome. So super cool. Before we get started, I'm going to share your bio with our listeners. For those who have not had the pleasure of meeting you before, and I've had the pleasure of meeting you over this past year and working with you. And yeah, I'd just like to share more of your background before we get started.

00;01;47;19 - 00;01;48;09
Pericles
It's great.

00;01;48;11 - 00;02;17;13
Darice
Awesome. So Patrick Lee's Lewis Douglass, Tracy Smith, professor of Comparative literature and professor of English at Yale University, serves as dean of your college. As I said before, in partnership with other university leaders and faculty members. He is responsible for guiding the curriculum, Intellectual life, residential experience and student affairs of the Yale College community. His goal is to ensure that Yale offers the world's best undergraduate education

00;02;17;16 - 00;02;53;03
Darice
Dean Lewis earned his Bachelor of Arts with first class honors in English literature from McGill University in 1990 and his Ph.D. in comparative literature from Stanford University in 1997. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, he joined the Yale faculty in 1998 as an assistant professor in the Comparative literature and English departments. Rising to the rank of full professor in 2007, he is the author of three books on the social contexts of modern literature and editor of four books.

00;02;53;05 - 00;03;17;12
Darice
He is currently writing a book on liberal education and completing work on the fifth edition of the Norton Anthology of World Literature, for which he serves as the primary editor for the 20th and 21st centuries. From 2012 to 2017, Dean Lewis served as founding president of Yale and U.S. College, a collaboration between Yale and the National University of Singapore.

00;03;17;14 - 00;03;53;21
Darice
Under his leadership, the college developed into a thriving model of residential liberal arts education, much admired and studied throughout Asia and the world. From 2017 to 2022, he served as Yale's vice president for Global Strategy and as a vice provost with responsibility for research on international matters in the support of teaching and learning across campus. In these roles, he was active in planning the launch of the Yale Institute for Global Health, the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, and the Yale Schwarzman Center.

00;03;53;23 - 00;04;30;07
Darice
As Dean, he reports to the president and provost and oversees all areas of undergraduate education, including admissions and finance, financial aid, curriculum, academic advising, career preparation, fellowships, study abroad, residential life, undergraduate arts, ROTC, as well as special programs in arts and media, directed studies, education studies, journalism, language study and science and quantitative reasoning. Together with the vice President for university life.

00;04;30;11 - 00;04;54;23
Darice
He contributes to the university's work in furthering diversity, equity and inclusion in order to maximize support for all students. He also works closely with the athletic director, the executive director of the Yale Omni Association, and the deans of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, as well as the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Graduate and Professional Schools.

00;04;54;26 - 00;05;18;29
Darice
Born in Toronto, Dean Lewis is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. His wife, Sheila Hare, is a graduate of the Yale Law School and a former staff attorney at the New Haven Legal Assistance and teaches at Quinnipiac University Law School in New Haven, Connecticut. Their son is a recent graduate of Yale College and their daughter is a current Yale undergraduate.

00;05;19;00 - 00;05;20;24
Darice
So welcome again, Dean Lewis.

00;05;20;25 - 00;05;22;24
Pericles
Thanks very much for that kind introduction.

00;05;22;28 - 00;05;49;18
Darice
Also, so again, I am just fascinated by your bio. I had a I had a hard time trying to figure out, okay, what can I do? How can I capture it all and tell more about about you introducing you to it to our listeners, especially those who have not had a chance to meet you personally. But as I read your bio and realized that you had dual citizenship.

00;05;49;20 - 00;06;03;09
Darice
My first thought was just to ask you about like where you grew up and and if you could tell us a little more about that and and how what what brought you. I'm not sure if you grew up in Canada, but what brought you from Canada into Connecticut?

00;06;03;11 - 00;06;08;02
Pericles
Sure. So I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and I was there.

00;06;08;07 - 00;06;30;17
Pericles
You know, the first 18 years of my life. My parents and my sisters and my nieces still live there, although one of my nieces is out on the West Coast now. And I went to college, as you mentioned, at McGill University, and then I came to the US, too, for graduate school. That's where I met my wife. I was at Stanford and once I got hired to teach at Yale, we moved here.

00;06;30;17 - 00;06;34;04
Pericles
We had our kids and shortly after we had our kids, I became a U.S..

00;06;34;04 - 00;06;38;21
Pericles
Citizen as well as a Canadian citizen. So I've been here in the States for.

00;06;38;23 - 00;06;41;24
Pericles
Well over 30 years, I guess about 34 years now.

00;06;41;27 - 00;07;00;20
Darice
Wow. Were there any like you know, I know we talked a little bit about it earlier, but in your early years of school where there's certain memories that kind of stand out, like things that really influenced you, your experience to lead into education?

00;07;00;22 - 00;07;14;11
Pericles
I think so, yes. So I went to a number of interesting schools over my lifetime, and I've been thinking a lot about those as I've been writing about education in the last couple of years. From about the age of 8 to 12 or so,

00;07;14;11 - 00;07;28;19
Pericles
I was in a very progressive school in Toronto, which actually was run by two Americans, Mike and Laura Shine, who were my teachers, and it was a school with about 30 or 40 students in it in their house. It was called the Walker Avenue School, then later was called the schoolhouse.

00;07;28;21 - 00;07;51;19
Pericles
Subsequently, they retired and the school closed. But that was, as I say, a kind of a progressive education. You call the teachers by their first names. You did a lot of hands on stuff like baking or being out in nature. But we also read a lot and did a lot of math and that kind of thing. So I think that probably had an impact on my interest in education going forward.

00;07;51;22 - 00;08;00;25
Darice
Really. Was there was there something about like the hands on that really resonated for you, like, or carried out throughout your experience? I think.

00;08;00;25 - 00;08;22;01
Pericles
So. I think mostly that style of education was designed to encourage curiosity and like an interest in learning, I would say I was always a pretty academic intellectual type of person. So probably my favorite parts were the reading and the math. But I also, you know, we got out there, we played in the fields, rebuilt snow forts and, you know, all kinds of things like that.

00;08;22;01 - 00;08;40;04
Pericles
We had a nice day camp we'd spend a few days at, well, an overnight camp that we'd spent a few days at every fall and very nice community and then subsequently I went to a school that when I first started there called the University of Toronto Schools or UTC, struck me as almost the opposite because it seemed very formal.

00;08;40;04 - 00;08;49;19
Pericles
And for example, in my elementary school we didn't have grades. You know, we called the teachers by their first name and in middle and high school there was a lot of, you know, grading.

00;08;49;19 - 00;08;53;17
Pericles
Calling the teachers by their formal names and all of that kind of thing.

00;08;53;20 - 00;09;16;00
Pericles
But it turned out that actually both schools had been very influenced in the early days by the progressive movement, John Dewey, the laboratory schools and at the University of Chicago. And the general idea of encouraging students to to learn and to think of themselves as part of a community. And I think that has influenced my educational philosophy ever since.

00;09;16;02 - 00;09;41;18
Darice
Yeah, it's really interesting that you mention that, because one of the themes that came out of our season one in terms of every guest experience with with their early years in school is having a community and having that that, you know, sort of second family to to fall back on And it was it was that similar for you?

00;09;41;20 - 00;09;53;22
Pericles
yeah, I think so. Especially the elementary school is very family sort of feeling because we lived in the house. You know, the the my teachers had four kids they lived with. They were younger, but they came to school with us.

00;09;53;28 - 00;09;54;18
Darice
wow.

00;09;54;20 - 00;10;03;08
Pericles
You know, the dog was there. I was a little bit afraid of the dog, you know, And then high school was maybe less family oriented, but it was a very close knit group.

00;10;03;08 - 00;10;04;13
Pericles
It wasn't a very large school.

00;10;04;13 - 00;10;16;06
Pericles
I think there were about 420 kids, so 70 per year for six years. And I still am very close to those friends. I think actually the invention of Facebook and all the other social media means I'm closer to them than I was.

00;10;16;12 - 00;10;17;12
Pericles
Before the existence.

00;10;17;12 - 00;10;28;06
Pericles
Of Facebook, as now we all share, you know, memories and news about our kids and all of that kind of thing. So yeah, so I think the both of those were very formative experiences for me.

00;10;28;15 - 00;10;43;20
Darice
that's amazing. And it's interesting that you mention Facebook because even for me, you know, there are folks that I lost touch with, you know, 20, 30 years ago. And without Facebook, I never would have reconnected with folks there.

00;10;43;20 - 00;10;46;09
Pericles
Are some downsides to social media, but that's exactly sidestepped.

00;10;46;13 - 00;10;55;08
Darice
Exactly where they're specific or maybe influential figures that that really stick out in your in your mind.

00;10;55;08 - 00;11;18;07
Pericles
Well, you know, I'd be sorry. Yeah, I became a literature professor. So I think I do remember the reading courses at the at elementary school. We had something called public reading and private readings. A private reading, you would sit after lunch and read a book for an hour. And I always loved doing that. And we had a read-a-thon where you kept track of how many books you read in a week to raise money for the school library and remember that, you know.

00;11;18;07 - 00;11;38;09
Pericles
And then the public reading was we would sit around in our teacher Mike would, you know, read us a book and we'd talk about the meaning of it. And that, of course, is very much like what you do when you're a literary critic. And now Mike and Laura are both Americans. And I think I learned a lot about us, like the civil rights movement, history, politics.

00;11;38;09 - 00;11;51;04
Pericles
This was the era just after the Vietnam War. And a certain view of what the U.S. was all about from growing up in that kind of environment. Otherwise, my education was mostly very Canadian. And in that sense, sort of parochial.

00;11;51;04 - 00;12;13;21
Darice
But now it's an easy and, you know, is there like during your your later years in high school, where were there certain achievements that sort of stand out for you or maybe even just moments where, you know, you felt like you really you know, at that age you really accomplished or made a had a major accomplishment?

00;12;13;24 - 00;12;21;26
Pericles
Well, it was a little bit one of those rather competitive high schools where we were all trying to show off a little, perhaps too much. But I was very.

00;12;21;26 - 00;12;40;20
Pericles
Involved in debating. And although I didn't like when the big championships and debating, I won some prizes for debating. And I was I was pretty active in it and I enjoyed that. And I think the public speaking dimension of my work now is part of that. So, you know, if you think about it, reading and writing and speaking.

00;12;40;23 - 00;12;42;15
Pericles
Are slightly different things, but they're both.

00;12;42;15 - 00;12;57;18
Pericles
About language, right? And when I did my Ph.D., you know, all of that as reading and writing and not so much about the spoken word. But then when you teach a class or when you make a speech or whatever, then the spoken word becomes very important. I would say that over the years I've turned.

00;12;57;18 - 00;13;01;21
Pericles
More to the spoken word, and I still read and write, but not, you know, but I like.

00;13;01;21 - 00;13;03;06
Pericles
The oral expression.

00;13;03;06 - 00;13;03;18
Pericles
Right?

00;13;04;01 - 00;13;24;06
Darice
that's great. So what? You know, towards the end of your high school years and you mentioned that you really enjoyed that, that part of high school. So did that sort of shape your entire journey into academics or was there something that just said, Yes, this is exactly what I would like to pursue.

00;13;24;06 - 00;13;30;02
Pericles
That's a great question. I, I always liked my English classes and.

00;13;30;05 - 00;13;31;11
Pericles
I also was very interested.

00;13;31;11 - 00;13;36;02
Pericles
In drama, which is sort of like a branch of English, like I was in plays or I was on the stage crew or I.

00;13;36;02 - 00;13;37;24
Pericles
Studied plays a lot.

00;13;37;27 - 00;13;57;28
Pericles
And I think that all influenced my decision to study English and in university. When did I decide to become an academic? I'm not sure, but I remember there was some kind of expectation because a lot of my family or lawyers that I might go to law school. And I do remember having a conversation with my father when I was around 16, and he I said I didn't really want to be a lawyer.

00;13;57;28 - 00;14;01;09
Pericles
And he said he could sort of understand that because he was at that stage in his career.

00;14;01;09 - 00;14;05;07
Pericles
Where he could see why I might prefer to go into academia. So I'm not sure that I decided.

00;14;05;07 - 00;14;10;28
Pericles
Right away to go into academia. But by the time I was about 20, I was thinking about that interesting interest.

00;14;10;28 - 00;14;15;17
Darice
And out of curiosity, what were some of the plays that that you performed in?

00;14;15;20 - 00;14;27;00
Pericles
Well, I remember being a big fan of George Bernard Shaw. I was in a play by Moliere called That Scoundrel Chopin in English, and I played a street urchins or just a kid in 18th.

00;14;27;00 - 00;14;27;24
Pericles
Century France.

00;14;28;00 - 00;14;29;20
Pericles
Or 17th century French hanging.

00;14;29;22 - 00;14;32;10
Pericles
Out on the side. My best part, which.

00;14;32;10 - 00;14;41;21
Pericles
Was not a great part, was the second pastry chef in the kitchen by Arnold Wesker. And this was a play set in the back of a of a restaurant. And I had very.

00;14;41;21 - 00;14;42;23
Pericles
Small roles, but I was with a.

00;14;42;23 - 00;14;45;27
Pericles
Lovely guy named Noah Cowan, who was a friend of mine, who was the first.

00;14;45;27 - 00;14;49;04
Pericles
Pastry chef. And the two of us had two little things. And then I was in The.

00;14;49;04 - 00;14;52;03
Pericles
Diary of Anne Frank, where I played Mr. Doswell, the dentist.

00;14;52;03 - 00;14;58;18
Pericles
So you can see from all of those roles that I was never the star of any of the plays, but I had sort of sort of fun bit parts in the Pirates.

00;14;58;18 - 00;15;25;20
Darice
Yeah, that's amazing. So were there specific, you know, moving into your college years? Were there certain courses that you really enjoyed and not just the actual, you know, course material, but maybe the way you interacted with with your professors and and just the experience, the the in class or you know, lectures or what what stood out for you?

00;15;25;20 - 00;15;29;29
Pericles
I was very fortunate to have great teachers at McGill.

00;15;30;01 - 00;15;50;29
Pericles
I think probably one of my favorite classes was actually romantic poetry. And sometimes I think I should have studied romantic poetry for my Ph.D., but I studied the modern novel, which was another area I really liked a lot. It happened that at that time, which was the late eighties, I think partly because the job market was already getting to be somewhat bad in the States for people with PhDs in English.

00;15;50;29 - 00;16;14;19
Pericles
A lot of my teachers had gone to top American schools like Yale or Stanford, and they gave me a bit of the idea of what was it like to go to graduate school. So I remember talking to some faculty there, probably only ten or 15 years older than me, but they were newly teaching at McGill and they told me, what is it like to study at Yale or Stanford or other places?

00;16;14;19 - 00;16;31;25
Pericles
I wound up doing my Ph.D. at Stanford, but I always thought about Yale. And then when I finished my Ph.D., I got a job here. So and Yale was at that time, a big center for literary criticism. So I read a lot of the criticism that came out of Yale back in the 1980s. And and as I say, my teachers had studied here.

00;16;31;25 - 00;16;35;07
Pericles
So I felt a kind of a connection as a result of that.

00;16;35;09 - 00;17;11;20
Darice
So were there, you know, in retrospect, were there specific experiences that just contributed to you personally? Like when I when I think back to, you know, English was actually and I'm not saying this too, to earn brownie points, but but English was one of my favorite subjects in college. You know, we explored, especially in African-American literature, you know, so just a lot of topics that that just resonated.

00;17;11;26 - 00;17;12;07
Pericles
Yeah.

00;17;12;08 - 00;17;24;04
Darice
For me personally. So where there's certain topics that just I don't know that you just had a love for or, you know, you found yourself getting lost in reading or that topic.

00;17;24;05 - 00;17;27;17
Pericles
Absolutely. You know, actually, I was really very interested after.

00;17;27;17 - 00;17;31;00
Pericles
The Romantics, I came to be very interested in the Middle Ages.

00;17;31;02 - 00;17;35;14
Pericles
Just because they're so different from our time. And especially I read a lot of.

00;17;35;14 - 00;17;44;01
Pericles
Chaucer and I even taught in a Chaucer class in graduate school. But I read like Dante and the other medieval writers and.

00;17;44;04 - 00;17;45;18
Pericles
There was a little while while I thought where I.

00;17;45;18 - 00;17;53;07
Pericles
Thought I might study that period. And what I really like about it is like just a totally you have to sort of see the world in a totally different way to imagine what.

00;17;53;07 - 00;17;55;00
Pericles
It was like to be in the Middle Ages. But there's also this.

00;17;55;00 - 00;17;56;18
Pericles
Tremendous sense of humor, like there were all.

00;17;56;18 - 00;17;57;07
Pericles
The.

00;17;57;09 - 00;18;00;25
Pericles
The jokes in Chaucer and even in Dante. There's a lot of humor.

00;18;00;25 - 00;18;06;24
Pericles
And so I've always followed the Middle Ages and enjoyed that, although I never wound up specializing in it.

00;18;06;24 - 00;18;18;18
Darice
Wow. Wow. That's amazing. And do you find that, you know, like the jokes that you found there, do you find that you pull that into maybe the way that you teach or.

00;18;18;24 - 00;18;21;06
Pericles
Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah. I try and have a.

00;18;21;06 - 00;18;28;02
Pericles
Sense of humor when I'm teaching. I think, you know, one of the authors I taught a lot when I got Deal is James Joyce, because a lot of students were.

00;18;28;02 - 00;18;30;03
Pericles
Interested in James Joyce enjoys himself.

00;18;30;06 - 00;18;33;21
Pericles
I once wrote a little bit about Joyce's interest in Dante, so I shouldn't say that I've never.

00;18;33;21 - 00;18;35;22
Pericles
Written about the Middle Ages, but.

00;18;35;25 - 00;18;51;06
Pericles
Joyce himself, you know a lot of humor about the body, you know, sexuality, bodily functions and all that sort of thing. And that a lot of that draws on a certain medieval worldview. And, you know, Joyce was Catholic and he's very interested in the.

00;18;51;06 - 00;18;52;17
Pericles
History of the Catholic Church.

00;18;52;17 - 00;19;03;28
Pericles
And so I do think that when I think about it, my study of earlier periods really helped me to understand the 20th century writers that wound up being, you know, where I specialized in what I taught.

00;19;05;07 - 00;19;36;03
Darice
so I'm curious, kind of taking a step back to to your college years and and reflecting on that. And now today, as as dean of your college, how how would you, you know, give advice to students when they're pursuing their interests and exploring? And I know that that is one of your biggest initiatives in terms of, you know, helping students get, you know, guiding them on a on a journey to really explore all that Yale College offers.

00;19;36;03 - 00;19;44;05
Darice
So, you know, what's the first thing that stands out in your mind of your experience and then what you would tell students today?

00;19;44;08 - 00;19;45;09
Pericles
That's a great.

00;19;45;09 - 00;19;55;25
Pericles
Question. You know, I am at McGill and in Canada. In those days in general, you had to choose a specialty pretty early. So I had to declare my English major my first week of college.

00;19;55;25 - 00;19;56;07
Darice
Wow.

00;19;56;07 - 00;20;02;21
Pericles
I could have shifted to history or philosophy or some other subject, but I chose English and as a result, two thirds of my courses were in English.

00;20;02;21 - 00;20;03;26
Pericles
I learned Italian on the.

00;20;03;26 - 00;20;08;14
Pericles
Side and I studied a little bit of philosophy and history and religion, but I would have enjoyed studying more.

00;20;08;14 - 00;20;10;04
Pericles
Broadly. Yeah.

00;20;10;06 - 00;20;26;21
Pericles
So I think a great thing about Yale and this is the liberal arts system in general in the U.S., but especially the Yale version of it. You spend a year or two exploring a range of subjects like, you know, if I'd been here, I would have taken a course in economics. I never did or I would have done some more math or whatever.

00;20;26;21 - 00;20;53;04
Pericles
And I think that allows you to develop a range of interests. And then within the humanities, I always tell people it's good to both look at things that sort of contributed to yourself, like your culture or your history or whatever, and also look at cultures very different from your own. So you can learn something from that. So both that goes to the Middle Ages thing, like both historically recent stuff and historically distant to try and understand the diversity of human experience.

00;20;53;04 - 00;20;56;13
Pericles
And I think that's something we have a terrific curriculum for being able to do that.

00;20;56;13 - 00;21;39;10
Darice
Here, right? that's awesome. And I love that you brought a diversity of human experience because I think that, you know, pulling from from the studies into just actual, you know, in person, you know, our interactions and it, it it makes a huge difference when you apply your studies to to actual life. Right. Life experiences. Were there a certain interests that you had during that time that that, you know, like hobbies or things that sort of, you know, just just brought you joy and relaxation and all of all of these, you know, busy, busy activities that you had.

00;21;39;15 - 00;21;41;19
Pericles
Yeah, I think my biggest hobby is just.

00;21;41;19 - 00;21;47;23
Pericles
Listening to music and I listen to all kinds of music, like pop, jazz.

00;21;47;26 - 00;21;50;22
Pericles
Rock, early rock and roll.

00;21;50;25 - 00;22;04;26
Pericles
You know, Cuban and Latin music, classical music. And I enjoy doing that all the time. I often if you walk into my office, you'll see hear music in the background, and I have my little collections of CDs and.

00;22;04;29 - 00;22;07;13
Pericles
And recordings and so on.

00;22;07;16 - 00;22;10;20
Pericles
And when I was young, I used to go to a lot of concerts, although nowadays.

00;22;10;20 - 00;22;12;07
Pericles
I find it's a little too loud.

00;22;12;15 - 00;22;13;24
Darice
I know.

00;22;13;26 - 00;22;20;01
Pericles
So I don't set it at the high level or whatever, but I'd say that's probably one of my favorite hobbies.

00;22;20;12 - 00;22;23;21
Darice
it's great. What are some of your favorite artists?

00;22;23;23 - 00;22;37;20
Pericles
Well, in the Well, I just saw a very good halftime show with Usher, But, you know, before. Before. it reminded me of Michael Jackson. And then I read that he made a reference to Michael Jackson. I read. Okay. Well, so Michael Jackson is from my time, right?

00;22;37;20 - 00;22;38;01
Darice
Right.

00;22;38;05 - 00;22;40;20
Pericles
Yes. David Bowie was another what I was a big.

00;22;40;25 - 00;22;48;14
Pericles
Fan of at the time. And like I say, I sort of loved the history of jazz music and the all the great standards, like the.

00;22;48;14 - 00;22;54;18
Pericles
Cole Porter songs and the Gershwins songs and all of that kind of thing, and Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and all of that.

00;22;54;21 - 00;22;57;25
Pericles
But, you know, almost any period of music, I kind of.

00;22;57;25 - 00;22;59;09
Pericles
Enjoy one that's a little bit.

00;22;59;09 - 00;22;59;26
Pericles
Out there.

00;22;59;26 - 00;23;15;28
Pericles
But it connects to my James Joyce interest is Irish folk music. We always had a lot of Irish folk music going on when I was a kid, and you see all these songs about how evil the British are and so on, since some of my I mean the English, some of my ancestors in English, you know, but nonetheless, I do have some Irish ancestry.

00;23;15;29 - 00;23;17;00
Pericles
Straight.

00;23;17;03 - 00;23;42;11
Darice
Scary. Yeah. I mean, and it's interesting. I it's so cool to hear about, you know, your your favorite artists because, you know, that's another topic that is come up in previous episodes where, you know, music connects us. Right. Even if we're wherever you are, you know, whatever language you speak or your background and, you know, love for music.

00;23;42;11 - 00;23;48;22
Darice
And even if you didn't see us here before, you know, hopefully you enjoyed it or you love parts of it, right?

00;23;48;25 - 00;23;50;07
Pericles
Although I think the most famous.

00;23;50;07 - 00;23;52;16
Pericles
Half time show is the Prince one. Yes.

00;23;52;18 - 00;23;55;05
Darice
Yes. I don't really know. I'm a huge Prince Philip.

00;23;55;12 - 00;23;59;08
Pericles
good. Well, we're you're a little younger than me, but same general generation, right?

00;23;59;08 - 00;24;22;25
Darice
Yes. Yes, I yeah, I can I always tease people. I'll randomly bring up Prince and talk about Prince for forever or for that. But yes, I'm a I'm a huge fan of Prince. but yes, that's awesome. Is there a certain book or maybe even, you know, maybe a movie or something that that still, you know, resonates for you?

00;24;22;25 - 00;24;27;16
Darice
Like I, I find some of my favorite movies I'll watch over and over and over. So I don't know if you do the same.

00;24;27;16 - 00;24;29;18
Pericles
Yeah, I do that all the time.

00;24;29;20 - 00;24;33;14
Pericles
Well, for movies, I love The Godfather and I love a lot of the classic.

00;24;33;14 - 00;24;41;26
Pericles
Movies, you know? But the but for books, I think probably my favorite book, although it's not one you can read while you could read it over and over again in your lifetime.

00;24;41;26 - 00;24;45;21
Pericles
But it's Long is Proust Remembrance of Things Past, which I first read.

00;24;45;23 - 00;24;53;03
Pericles
First in English when I was in college, and then I, as my French got better, I read it in French and later I wrote about it in my dissertation.

00;24;53;03 - 00;24;55;23
Pericles
And I've taught it in the past and so on. And it's just.

00;24;55;25 - 00;25;05;29
Pericles
It's a whole panorama of life from French, from the late 19th century up through the First World War, told through the eyes of this young man who experiences.

00;25;05;29 - 00;25;09;11
Pericles
Lots of successes, but also disillusionment and.

00;25;09;11 - 00;25;19;05
Pericles
So on, and meets all kinds of interesting people in in high society and also people who are not in high society. Just a beautiful novel. And so that's probably the one.

00;25;19;05 - 00;25;21;06
Pericles
That's most shaped my way of looking at the world.

00;25;21;15 - 00;25;30;00
Darice
interesting. In like, was there a specific part that that really resonated for you in terms of your view of the world?

00;25;30;06 - 00;25;33;07
Pericles
Well, I think his one of the great things about Proust.

00;25;33;07 - 00;25;54;29
Pericles
Is his ability to represent what it's like to be a child and to see the world through a child's eyes and and to remember how things that grown ups know about. Yeah, whether it's politics or sexuality or whatever, how they appeared to a child who's sort of innocent and hasn't come to understand them yet entirely. So that's one big theme of his.

00;25;55;01 - 00;26;04;15
Pericles
He also another big theme is time. So sadly, I went to the memorial service for a colleague who passed away and I, I had known her for almost 30 years and a.

00;26;04;15 - 00;26;09;20
Pericles
Lot of my old friends who'd been there for whom I'd known 30 years ago, my old colleagues were there.

00;26;09;22 - 00;26;14;14
Pericles
And that sense that we exist in time, but but sort of in a way, the distant.

00;26;14;14 - 00;26;22;28
Pericles
Past is also present for us. At the same time. That always strikes me a lot when I'm at a memorial service or a retirement or those kinds of things.

00;26;23;00 - 00;26;27;22
Darice
Yeah, that's amazing. And I'm so sorry about your your colleagues.

00;26;27;22 - 00;26;30;20
Pericles
Thank you. You know, now that I've been here 27 years, I.

00;26;30;20 - 00;26;41;12
Pericles
Attend a lot of retirement events and I'm honored, sadly, you know, but part of the university community. That's nice is that, you know, you have a community to attend when when somebody passes away or.

00;26;41;16 - 00;26;46;04
Darice
Right. And everyone comes back together and, you know, there's that connection.

00;26;46;09 - 00;26;49;03
Pericles
Yeah, absolutely. There were the old grad students there that I hadn't.

00;26;49;03 - 00;26;50;16
Pericles
Seen in a long time. And yeah.

00;26;50;16 - 00;26;51;11
Pericles
It was a lovely event.

00;26;51;27 - 00;27;39;13
Darice
wow. Do you find that you know, you mentioned how some of your your studies and different things shaped your your view of life. And I, I love that you brought up the idea of how children look at their world and, you know, their sort of unfiltered view, at least at first when they're not influenced right by by us adults, you know, and, you know, are there some core values that that you found maybe even just early on and carrying on from your childhood that that you, you know, hold dear that really shaped your your leadership even here at the college?

00;27;39;20 - 00;27;42;29
Pericles
That's a wonderful question. I think openness is.

00;27;42;29 - 00;27;51;19
Pericles
Extremely important, like just willingness to listen, to hear other people to encounter new experiences. And that also goes.

00;27;51;19 - 00;28;07;20
Pericles
With the capacity for personal growth. So one of the things that we say that we're trying to teach our students is how to learn so that they can continue to learn throughout life. Lifetime. And what I've enjoyed about my work is that, you know, you mentioned that I'd done a few different administrative jobs over.

00;28;07;20 - 00;28;11;25
Pericles
The last dozen years or so. Each time there's an opportunity to learn something new. So that's very.

00;28;11;25 - 00;28;41;15
Pericles
Important. And I'd say another one is equality. I just think recognizing everybody's equality and treating people equally and, you know, that doesn't mean that everybody is exactly the same, but that everybody has equal dignity. That's extremely important. And I think that's a basic principle, you know, for democracy and for for how we live together. And yeah, and then between those goes growth, like just the capacity to develop and expand over the course of your lifetime.

00;28;41;19 - 00;29;23;16
Darice
Yeah. Yeah. That's so important. And you brought up another, like I said, a common theme that has come up in previous episodes where you know our, our equality, but also to how we interact with one another, you know, on a daily basis. And I'm curious, how do you pull all of this together in terms of your approach with whether it's the staff or, you know, whoever you come into contact with, Is there something that sort of stands out in your mind with how you carry yourself or interact with people that that you know and where we're all not perfect, Right?

00;29;23;16 - 00;29;36;14
Darice
Yeah. So sure. So, you know, but maybe there are certain days that you remind yourself of all of these values that, that you you've that have become important to you.

00;29;36;16 - 00;29;43;03
Pericles
That's a wonder. Wonderful. Yes, I think I mean, I would sort of summarize it as respect. I think people having respect for.

00;29;43;03 - 00;29;45;04
Pericles
One another and also sort.

00;29;45;04 - 00;29;47;10
Pericles
Of regardless of status.

00;29;47;12 - 00;29;55;08
Pericles
You know, universities are very hierarchical places like one person's the dean, one person's an assistant professor, one's an associate professor and all of that and the different.

00;29;55;08 - 00;30;24;24
Pericles
Staff levels and everything. But really, one should respect everybody and the contribution that each person is making. And then to the growth and educational part of it. I think that's very important in thinking about how staff develop at a university because you want to feel that as a member of the staff of the university, whether you're, you know, a unionized staff worker who's working in an office or in the dining hall, or whether you're a professional, that you have some opportunity to to learn and to grow.

00;30;24;27 - 00;30;26;26
Pericles
And I think that is challenging.

00;30;26;26 - 00;30;28;03
Pericles
At a university because there's a.

00;30;28;03 - 00;30;29;03
Pericles
Sort of a bureaucratic.

00;30;29;03 - 00;30;32;04
Pericles
Structure that goes into running a big place like this.

00;30;32;06 - 00;30;41;27
Pericles
But thinking about what are the opportunities for each of our staff to fully develop and to either build on the skills they already have or acquire new skills. That's something I've been trying to emphasize.

00;30;42;04 - 00;30;43;25
Pericles
Particularly the last couple of years as.

00;30;43;25 - 00;31;20;25
Darice
DEAN Absolutely. And are there specific like do you have maybe even advice that kind of has guided you through your experiences and, you know, from from college years to now, being dean of Yale College, were there certain experiences that sort of stand out for you and you would sort of share that as as a I don't know, like here is advice in terms of, you know, your journey, whether you become a dean or whether you become a director or, you know, whatever your your professional journey may be.

00;31;20;27 - 00;31;39;01
Pericles
Well, I think curiosity is very important and sort of keeping your eye out for how you know, how things work and learning something new in that way. I got very fortunate because I was asked to be involved in setting up Belin USC College, which is the collaboration with the National University of Singapore that you mentioned at the beginning.

00;31;39;01 - 00;31;59;18
Pericles
And my family and I moved to Singapore and lived there for a few years, hired the initial faculty and staff, and then at that point I shifted from being mostly about the curriculum and education and the libraries and things that are more research oriented here at Yale to suddenly having to learn about buildings and landscape and finances and so on.

00;31;59;18 - 00;32;04;09
Pericles
And I was in my early forties. So that's a time when there's some risk that you're going to get into a rut.

00;32;04;09 - 00;32;07;16
Pericles
So I was very fortunate to be able to.

00;32;07;18 - 00;32;18;17
Pericles
You know, to to learn a lot at that point. As for advice for people, you know, in their careers, I think it learning about the the broader.

00;32;18;17 - 00;32;19;26
Pericles
University is very important.

00;32;19;26 - 00;32;34;27
Pericles
I think we tend to sort of get stuck in the one office that we're in. So one of the things we've introduced and the belonging committee, which you've been leading or involved in leading has helped with this is more education and training for staff as they come into the.

00;32;34;27 - 00;32;36;11
Pericles
College to learn not just.

00;32;36;11 - 00;32;39;25
Pericles
About the office they're in, but about the whole range of work that the.

00;32;39;25 - 00;32;41;02
Pericles
College does.

00;32;41;04 - 00;32;59;23
Pericles
And that's connected to a broader effort for professional development opportunities for all of our staff. Because one of the things I've noticed at different phases, but particularly when I came in as Dean, is that, you know, you get there's the risk of getting sort of pigeonholed. Okay, this is the thing you do and you just sort of stick with it.

00;32;59;23 - 00;33;01;06
Pericles
And but there should be.

00;33;01;06 - 00;33;04;03
Pericles
Opportunities for professional growth for everybody. Yeah.

00;33;04;05 - 00;33;35;15
Darice
I agree. And I think that, you know, and I can even speak for for from my own experience, it's just that it can't happen, right? You get stuck with it. And some folks assume that maybe you just want to stick with IT. And but you know, there are like you said, there are other opportunities to to learn and grow and learn about other parts of the college or, you know, different aspects of what, you know, makes Yale college what it is.

00;33;35;17 - 00;33;38;06
Pericles
That's a great dimension of this podcast because you're.

00;33;38;13 - 00;33;40;15
Pericles
You're doing something new, but you're also introducing.

00;33;40;15 - 00;33;44;00
Pericles
All kinds of different people in different parts of the college and sort of.

00;33;44;03 - 00;33;47;25
Pericles
That's it's not exactly the same as the training dimension I mentioned, but.

00;33;47;29 - 00;33;59;10
Pericles
Communicating about the mission. So helping people see the whole range of things that we do in Yale College and of course also in the broader university. But it's actually a pretty complex ecosystem just within the college.

00;33;59;12 - 00;34;26;29
Darice
Yeah, it takes four. You know, there's always something new. You know, every day I learn a different part of the university or the whether it's the college or Yale as a whole. And there's always something new to learn about, you know, a department or a function or a program or, you know, and I think that's what fascinates me the most about working here is just that there's so much going on that, you know, it's endless, right?

00;34;27;01 - 00;34;30;13
Darice
It could be an endless amount of learning.

00;34;30;16 - 00;34;33;09
Pericles
Yeah. So, in fact, you mentioned the ROTC at the beginning.

00;34;33;16 - 00;34;39;20
Pericles
As one of the things I'm overseeing and I'm working with colonels and captains and, you know, the Navy and the Air Force and.

00;34;39;23 - 00;34;45;10
Pericles
And the students who are doing it. And this is something I had no experience of before, but it's really been interesting to learn about.

00;34;45;11 - 00;34;47;16
Pericles
And of course, I admire what those.

00;34;47;18 - 00;34;49;11
Pericles
Those folks are doing for our country.

00;34;49;11 - 00;34;59;01
Darice
Yeah, absolutely. Can you recall, you know, now that you've been with the college for going on three years, right.

00;34;59;02 - 00;35;00;16
Pericles
To to going on to.

00;35;00;16 - 00;35;12;28
Darice
Yeah, it seems like three because we did so much last year. But but yes. So were there specific challenges that that you found that that you don't mind sharing with with. Sure.

00;35;13;04 - 00;35;17;20
Pericles
Yeah. I think the one that I often talk about is like doing things the Yale way.

00;35;17;20 - 00;35;19;10
Pericles
So Yale has been around.

00;35;19;10 - 00;35;20;16
Pericles
Since 1701.

00;35;20;16 - 00;35;21;13
Pericles
And the college was the.

00;35;21;13 - 00;35;22;27
Pericles
First part of the university because originally.

00;35;22;27 - 00;35;29;25
Pericles
It was just called Yale College and it taught only undergraduate days. And sometimes you say, Well, why don't we try this? And people say, Well, we tried that back in.

00;35;29;25 - 00;35;30;09
Pericles
19.

00;35;30;09 - 00;35;35;12
Pericles
82 and it didn't work then. I'm like, Well, it's been 40 years. Maybe it would work this time, right? I'm not even.

00;35;35;12 - 00;35;43;27
Pericles
Sure that it's any individual person's attitude. It's just sort of a tendency to think that things have to be done a certain way. And it.

00;35;43;27 - 00;35;44;18
Pericles
Turns out.

00;35;44;18 - 00;35;50;18
Pericles
That most things we do, you can go and look at how they do it at peer institutions.

00;35;50;18 - 00;35;51;03
Pericles
Like, you know.

00;35;51;03 - 00;36;00;18
Pericles
Obviously Harvard or Princeton, but also had other great institutions that are great public universities, you know, Unci or Michigan or Berkeley or whatever, or even local.

00;36;00;18 - 00;36;01;08
Pericles
Schools like.

00;36;01;08 - 00;36;04;08
Pericles
Connecticut College or UConn or whatever, and find that.

00;36;04;14 - 00;36;06;03
Pericles
they've actually thought about this before, like.

00;36;06;10 - 00;36;22;03
Pericles
How do we organize orientation, How do we organize registration? You know, how can we best teach data science to students? We're not we don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. And so looking around and comparing is, I think, pretty important.

00;36;22;05 - 00;36;44;17
Darice
Yeah It is. And I I'm a big fan of not reinventing the wheel, you know, especially when it comes to technology. If, you know, if someone else has already figured out a solution and it's a great solution, I'm all for you know, I'm a huge fan of, you know, let's just replicate it or, you know, do the same thing versus trying to create our own system.

00;36;44;24 - 00;36;45;13
Pericles
Absolutely.

00;36;45;13 - 00;36;49;02
Pericles
And in IT, we have had a bit of a tendency to like, make our own thing.

00;36;49;07 - 00;36;59;26
Pericles
So we learn about all these systems that were invented 35 or 25 years ago. And it turns out there's some more modern way to do it. But we just sort of got stuck using the old system.

00;36;59;26 - 00;37;22;21
Darice
Yeah, Yeah. And I think that at least for me, that that's been a challenge where, you know, again, it changes scary sometimes for folks who who have done things a certain way for for a long period of time and suddenly you introduce this new system and you know, it's, it's, it's difficult for people to just change gears at times.

00;37;22;23 - 00;37;34;18
Darice
So have you found, ways, or have you had experiences that sort of helped, you know, overcome that kind of obstacle over the last couple of years?

00;37;34;25 - 00;37;52;28
Pericles
Well, one of the things I set out to do early on was put together our strategic plan and that involved, you know, listening sessions and conversations with lots of different groups around the college staff group, students, faculty. You know, we have these four themes that are in it, one of which is strategic mission, which is the one most closely related to what.

00;37;52;28 - 00;37;54;16
Pericles
We've been talking about.

00;37;54;18 - 00;38;10;11
Pericles
And I think identifying some shared set of goals for the whole college and on a five year time horizon then allows you to identify annual goals for each group. And then that in turn allows for more feedback because I think sometimes people feel like they're.

00;38;10;11 - 00;38;11;18
Pericles
Doing their job.

00;38;11;20 - 00;38;33;22
Pericles
But they don't always get all the feedback that they need. So I've been very intentional about making our cycle of feedback more, let's say, more consistent. It's not so much like, you know, you were good, you were bad or A or B or whatever, but more. Here are the goals we're working towards. What progress have we made? What obstacles are we facing?

00;38;33;22 - 00;38;39;26
Pericles
How can we make more progress next year? And I think thinking about the direction you're heading in is very important for all kinds of work.

00;38;40;02 - 00;39;16;18
Darice
Yeah. So I think, you know, as as you know, that I wrapped up the merge program less last year and that that was a theme that came up multiple times just in terms of not just feedback but having more just more communication in terms of what, you know, if I'm doing the a good job, but also how do I not just do better, but what what other areas can I contribute to like Yeah.

00;39;16;24 - 00;39;27;24
Darice
Or helping staff to see, you know, if I have a particular talent or maybe a particular interest that maybe I can contribute to these other areas?

00;39;27;28 - 00;39;29;27
Pericles
Yeah. And how does it fit into the big picture?

00;39;29;27 - 00;39;31;14
Darice
How does it fit into the bigger picture?

00;39;31;14 - 00;39;59;21
Pericles
So a lot of people that I worked with in my previous job as vice president for Global Strategy went through the Emerge program and part. Yeah. And so part of what I was thinking about in setting up our smaller programs in Yale College was to provide a similar opportunity for learning. So just even this orientation program where you hear from each of the senior associate deans means that new staff coming in, see how they fit into the bigger picture, and they don't have to be totally new to the university.

00;39;59;21 - 00;40;00;21
Pericles
They could just be transferring.

00;40;00;27 - 00;40;02;27
Pericles
From some other part of the university.

00;40;02;29 - 00;40;13;11
Pericles
And with your help and the help of others, I've been trying to make the staff meetings. Also opportunities to sort of see the big picture and help people see where they have an opportunity contribute.

00;40;13;17 - 00;40;40;21
Darice
Yeah, absolutely. And I think I think that's so important because I again, talking about a merge that stood out in my mind we we had leaders and university leaders come in and and provide, you know, presentations on, you know, here's finance and here's I.T. or, you know, our public affairs. But here's how all of these different units contribute to this.

00;40;40;29 - 00;41;03;00
Darice
You know, we funnel into this one mission and and it was really interesting to see and I think it's important for your staff to see that you're you know, your job matters. Like it's not just you're not just coming in and punching a timecard. You know, that every everyone's job matters here at your college and at the university.

00;41;03;02 - 00;41;17;08
Pericles
Yeah, my CEO and she was called executive vice president for administration in Singapore, used to say you're not just hewing stones or chopping bricks or whatever. You're building a cathedral. Right? So it says, see your role in the hall.

00;41;17;08 - 00;41;50;19
Darice
In the big picture here. Yeah. And that that really resonated for me because it was when especially at times when it may be difficult to understand, like why why are we doing so or doing things a certain way, or why are we being asked to do it? This way? And but when you see where it you know what it contributes to in the, you know, the overarching, you know, goal I think is, is so important and then and then it makes sense and it's like, okay, now I have something to to work towards.

00;41;50;21 - 00;42;17;00
Darice
I'm curious, you know, and again, I'm so happy that you, you know, had enough time to come here today and, you know, taking time out of your busy schedule. And it made me think, you know, just this morning when I on my way over, how do you how do you juggle your time? Like how do you how do you juggle, you know, your many appointments and then you're editing and then leading the college?

00;42;17;00 - 00;42;20;26
Darice
And you know what? What is a day in the life of Pericles look like?

00;42;20;26 - 00;42;21;10
Pericles
Well, you.

00;42;21;10 - 00;42;29;26
Pericles
Know, a I've got a terrific team so I can count on people to get things done. And so it's not like I have to do all the work. There's 300 people or roughly working in.

00;42;29;26 - 00;42;31;10
Pericles
Yale College and.

00;42;31;12 - 00;42;39;25
Pericles
Very dedicated people. When I first started in major administration back in Singapore, I did compare it to like being a swimmer and just barely being able to keep.

00;42;39;25 - 00;42;40;27
Pericles
Your head above the water.

00;42;40;27 - 00;42;52;17
Pericles
But what I realized is when you have a good team, a lot of it is setting goals and clarity about, you know, who's responsible for what. And also recently I've been doing.

00;42;52;17 - 00;43;03;01
Pericles
So I went to a great basketball game. In addition to watching the football game yesterday, I saw we beat Brown in hockey on Friday and in a terrific basketball game against Cornell on Saturday.

00;43;03;01 - 00;43;13;26
Pericles
And one of the things I learned that is true for both hockey and basketball is the ability to pass. And you don't want the the like the senior associate dean to report to me just to be passing to me and then I pass it back.

00;43;14;00 - 00;43;16;20
Pericles
Right. So you want them to be able to pass to each other.

00;43;16;20 - 00;43;37;16
Pericles
So team building exercises that allow people to work, like if the student affairs people need to talk to the academic side or if the communications people need to talk to the finance side, I should be informed. Maybe. CC me on the email, but I don't have to be engaged in every single, you know, exercise. And then, you know, in terms of my life, you know, I do have a lot of appointments.

00;43;37;16 - 00;43;47;14
Pericles
Most days of the week, like, you know, 9 to 5, and then sometimes there's an evening thing. But I usually am able to say Friday for working a little bit on my research unless I'm giving a.

00;43;47;14 - 00;43;49;18
Pericles
Talk, something like that. And the summers are.

00;43;49;18 - 00;43;54;12
Pericles
Actually a great time. So most of the research you were talking about, I just do in the summertime.

00;43;54;15 - 00;44;20;29
Darice
Just say so. So in terms of, like you said, building, building a great team, it's almost like and correct me if I'm wrong in terms of your experience, but you sort of have to have that that trust in your in your team to maybe even make decisions without without CC ing you or pulling you into the conversation. Right.

00;44;20;29 - 00;44;53;16
Darice
So there has to be that sort of trust amongst team members and just knowing that, you know, everyone's going to, you know, do the right thing basically. Yeah. So have, have you coming into your college, was that something that was a challenge for you or did you find that, you know, you sort of had to take time to to know folks and, you know, figure out the lay of the land, I guess, and go from there?

00;44;53;23 - 00;45;15;12
Pericles
for sure. I mean, definitely the first six months, just getting to know the senior staff and trying to get to know the staff all through the college. But although I'm new as a dean, I have been teaching in Yale College for 27 years. So I knew some of the people and I knew some of the issues. I, you know, everybody is is great and works really hard.

00;45;15;15 - 00;45;16;06
Pericles
We've had terrific.

00;45;16;06 - 00;45;36;28
Pericles
Deans. I think that one of the challenges sometimes was, you know, one of us had some set of responsibilities, another office had another set of responsibilities that was overlapping. So yeah, so I tried to clarify that. I redid a little bit of the org chart. I some people's titles changed. I did new job descriptions for the heads of the residential colleges and the deans of the residential colleges.

00;45;36;28 - 00;45;40;11
Pericles
Just to clarify, I think, clarity about what people's.

00;45;40;11 - 00;45;40;22
Pericles
Role.

00;45;40;22 - 00;45;45;28
Pericles
Is and clarity about where the decision is made, because absolutely, you're right, I don't need to be consulted.

00;45;45;28 - 00;45;52;17
Pericles
On every decision. But sometimes you get to a point where you're like, What should we do? I want to or at least I want to check with the dean.

00;45;52;19 - 00;46;01;18
Pericles
If this is the right way to go. And if if you've laid out clearly what the goals are and if people are working well together, then they don't need to be micromanaged. Right?

00;46;01;18 - 00;46;19;17
Darice
Right. I agree. You agreed. I'm curious, you know, for the future during your time here, as is the dean of your college. But but beyond, like, are there certain goals or aspirations that you have that that you don't mind sharing with us? Sure.

00;46;19;17 - 00;46;27;29
Pericles
I mean, for our students, I think my goal is that we offer the best possible undergraduate education, and I think we already are great in the education we offer.

00;46;27;29 - 00;46;50;04
Pericles
I think we can we do have to keep innovating. One of my themes is curricular innovation. We have to keep innovating in order to make sure that, for example, we're not behind in data science. We students want to learn about data. We need to hire the faculty and design the curriculum that will help them learn about that. That doesn't mean that they can't be reading Proust or Toni Morrison or, you know, literature or medieval history or whatever.

00;46;50;04 - 00;46;52;07
Pericles
But but they also want to be able to learn about.

00;46;52;07 - 00;46;53;12
Pericles
Things like data science.

00;46;53;12 - 00;47;07;11
Pericles
Or artificial intelligence or climate change, like current issues. And so continuing that orientation is important to me in terms of staff, I think developing staff, this is a great time for people to pursue their careers because the job market.

00;47;07;11 - 00;47;08;17
Pericles
Is strong, the.

00;47;08;17 - 00;47;14;15
Pericles
College and the university are growing, so there are new opportunities opening up. I'm proud that we've got a more.

00;47;14;15 - 00;47;17;00
Pericles
Diverse staff than we've had in the past, for.

00;47;17;00 - 00;47;37;11
Pericles
Example, or academic leadership. The deans and heads in associate deans and assistant deans are about 40% people of color, which is an improvement. I think we've also improved maybe a little more slowly in the directors in the more administrative kind of staff. And I think part of that is just that a university like Yale, people tend to stay for a very long time.

00;47;37;11 - 00;47;38;20
Pericles
So it takes a while to.

00;47;38;20 - 00;47;39;03
Darice
It takes to.

00;47;39;03 - 00;47;41;17
Pericles
Produce changes. And so but if you compare.

00;47;41;19 - 00;47;49;01
Pericles
The diversity of the student body, the staff and the faculty today to what it was like when I got here, 26 years ago, it's amazing all the.

00;47;49;01 - 00;47;54;16
Pericles
Transformation that's happened. And so I hope that we can continue to, you know, look a little bit more like the country as a whole.

00;47;54;17 - 00;48;18;06
Darice
Yeah, absolutely. And that's good. And it's funny that you mentioned, you know, people tend to stay for a very long time, but I but I think that's it's a great sign of why it's a wonderful place to work. You know, I've known a lot of folks who have been here, you know, 20, 30 years, 30 years, and which I find amazing.

00;48;18;06 - 00;48;40;08
Darice
I've been this is my 16th year here here at the university. And I always joke, you know, I'm I'm here for the duration. I have to get my kids through college. And, you know, but it is I mean, it is a wonderful place to work. And but but it is important, like you said, to sort of have that direction.

00;48;40;08 - 00;49;27;13
Darice
And, you know, for some there are some maybe some staff who, for whatever reason, aren't as interested in in professional development. But then there are those who really do want to continue advancing and, you know, it's great to hear about, you know, your your goals for the future. So I'm wondering if along those lines, if you could also share some other insights you might have in terms of how we can focus on enhancing our diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives and or maybe ideas that that you've come across with other that that we could implement here somehow?

00;49;27;19 - 00;49;28;15
Pericles
Certainly. So I.

00;49;28;15 - 00;49;32;18
Pericles
Think, you know, the belonging committee, which you've been part of, has done a very.

00;49;32;18 - 00;49;34;21
Pericles
Useful survey which gives us a baseline.

00;49;34;21 - 00;49;39;04
Pericles
Of how people have been feeling. And although the numbers were generally, you know.

00;49;39;04 - 00;49;40;05
Pericles
Relatively positive, there.

00;49;40;05 - 00;49;45;04
Pericles
Were some also very concerning elements there. And that goes to that theme of respect of just people treating.

00;49;45;04 - 00;49;48;07
Pericles
Each other with respect. I think that's very important.

00;49;48;09 - 00;49;50;07
Pericles
I think, you know.

00;49;50;09 - 00;49;50;26
Pericles
If you're just.

00;49;50;26 - 00;49;53;26
Pericles
Talking about American society, in a sense we're all part of one.

00;49;53;26 - 00;49;55;07
Pericles
Culture, but is also an.

00;49;55;07 - 00;50;05;12
Pericles
Element of cultural understanding of people from different backgrounds, like how, how, how do we communicate around issues and so on. And I do think my experience in Singapore was helpful.

00;50;05;12 - 00;50;06;26
Pericles
In that regard because there it was very.

00;50;06;26 - 00;50;30;10
Pericles
Diverse in a global sense, right? Like I was working with Singaporeans and Australians and people from India and people from Africa, and I think New Haven is, you know, diverse in its own way. And I think being able to to communicate across different, you know, sometimes people have different values. I think we all share like some of those values like openness and respect and equality.

00;50;30;17 - 00;50;49;18
Pericles
But people also come to things with a different perspective and being able to understand that is really important to help help people develop. And I think as you see, the student body has become much more diverse over the years, which is great and we do face a challenge there with the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action. But we've taken a lot of steps to try and maintain diversity.

00;50;49;18 - 00;50;50;27
Pericles
In the student body.

00;50;51;00 - 00;50;56;02
Pericles
We've got growing diversity in the faculty as well. Again, more at the younger levels than at the older.

00;50;56;02 - 00;50;56;17
Pericles
Levels, but.

00;50;56;17 - 00;51;05;07
Pericles
That's understandable. And then how do we, you know, translate that into into a staff context as well? I think those are important, important issues.

00;51;05;10 - 00;51;13;22
Darice
Yeah, that's amazing. I'm curious about, you know, believe it or not, we're almost closing our episode.

00;51;13;24 - 00;51;14;11
Pericles
Of course.

00;51;14;17 - 00;51;45;19
Darice
So it does fly. So so physically. So I'm wondering if you have some advice for our listeners coming from a university leader. Do you have advice for those who are just eager to, you know, maximize their experience here at Yale College or it or just Yale as a whole while they're still embracing all of these values that we talked about throughout the throughout the recording here?

00;51;45;21 - 00;52;03;25
Darice
Do do you have some, you know, parting words to to share with with those people who are, you know, just really eager to to, you know, work on that journey and maybe someday become some type of leader?

00;52;03;28 - 00;52;19;14
Pericles
Yeah, I you know, first of all, I'm just grateful for the incredible work that all of our team, all of our staff do. You saw it particularly during COVID, very challenging time. But people remain committed to the institution. Of course, you know, we have good.

00;52;19;14 - 00;52;23;03
Pericles
Relations now with the unions, which wasn't true 25 years ago.

00;52;23;05 - 00;52;43;08
Pericles
And so our unionized staff are also making incredibly important contributions. I think Yale offers actually a pretty good rate. You mentioned emerge, but there's a good range of other training opportunities for people who want to learn, know, management skills and so on. Personally, I love taking online courses, so like I took a course on accounting and another one on economics and one on marketing.

00;52;43;10 - 00;52;45;16
Pericles
I won't say it was from a peer institution.

00;52;45;16 - 00;52;47;27
Pericles
It wasn't for me, but it was online. Right?

00;52;47;29 - 00;52;56;09
Pericles
And we have access. Everybody with a Yale edu email has access to Coursera, which is one source for those. LinkedIn has great courses too, so.

00;52;56;09 - 00;52;58;10
Pericles
There are lots of opportunities. And I'd also.

00;52;58;10 - 00;53;16;13
Pericles
Say, you know, if your time permits, there are lots of interesting lectures all over campus all the time. It doesn't have to be about management, you know, just a there's a great thing about Italian-Americans coming up on March 1st and second. It's about the Italian community in New Haven. wow. And it's partly with the New Haven Museum.

00;53;16;16 - 00;53;33;01
Pericles
And then this week we're releasing the Allen Slavery Study, which is a study of the history of African-Americans and indigenous people and Yale. And so there are just all these opportunities to learn about our community, about historical forces, you know, or even you.

00;53;33;01 - 00;53;37;19
Pericles
Might want to go to a talk on sociology or politics or international relations. So there are just.

00;53;37;19 - 00;53;38;15
Pericles
All these opportunities to.

00;53;38;15 - 00;53;40;02
Pericles
Learn when you're in the university community.

00;53;40;02 - 00;53;42;22
Pericles
And I just encourage everyone to take advantage of those.

00;53;42;22 - 00;54;02;00
Darice
Yes, absolutely. I think that's one of the things I you know, I almost think of Yale almost like New York's, you know, being in New York City, there's always something going on. You could find a range of activities to get involved in or shows or whatever. And the same here at Yale. Like you said, there are courses, there are talks.

00;54;02;00 - 00;54;05;29
Darice
There, performances there. You know, they're so much.

00;54;06;05 - 00;54;07;20
Pericles
Smaller, but it's also easier to get.

00;54;07;20 - 00;54;08;00
Pericles
Around.

00;54;08;06 - 00;54;39;24
Darice
Well, yeah, it's easier to get around and, you know, to take advantage of those opportunities. And many of them are free of cost. So so, you know, that barrier has been removed for for folks which, which I think is wonderful like the I can't wait to visit the Peabody. Yeah. because you know number one they now it's free to the public and they've, you know, finished the renovations and you know, it's just a wonderful way to connect with the community.

00;54;39;24 - 00;54;44;11
Darice
But also it's like, wow, we get to see this for free. I mean.

00;54;44;14 - 00;54;46;19
Pericles
Yeah. And you mentioned the Schwarzman said there are lots of.

00;54;46;19 - 00;54;48;03
Pericles
Great programs in the Schwarzman.

00;54;48;03 - 00;55;11;11
Darice
Center's. Yeah, that's amazing. So thank you, Pericles. I you know, as we're drawing to the end of our conversation and, you know, I could probably talk to you for another hour, but. But we're running out of time. But I just want to extend my my deepest gratitude to you, you know, just for sharing your insights and experiences with with us today.

00;55;12;14 - 00;55;24;24
Darice
you know, your passion and your dedication to Yale College and the Yale College community is really it's inspiring. And it's just been an honor just to have you as a guest today.

00;55;24;26 - 00;55;27;16
Pericles
That's very kind of you, Doris, but let me extend my.

00;55;27;16 - 00;55;30;04
Pericles
Gratitude to you. This podcast is.

00;55;30;04 - 00;55;40;22
Pericles
Just a great way to get to know our colleagues, and it's just one of the many things you're doing to help link together the staff and faculty and teams of Yale College. So thank you. Thank you very much.

00;55;40;27 - 00;56;04;22
Darice
Thank you. I appreciate that. So, yeah, to our listeners, I hope that you found today's episode is enlightening and enriching as I did, and just having the opportunity to get to know Pericles here. you know, it's been fantastic because we I don't think we've ever had a chance to just speak one on one with any of our deans.

00;56;04;26 - 00;56;34;20
Darice
Or at least not I have not. I'll say that. And, you know, it's just been a pleasure. I truly appreciate your time because I know you have a really busy schedule and I really appreciate your support of the podcast as well. You know. And I am just excited. You know, I'm so happy that to have you as our first guest for season two and, you know, kicking off our season two here and really excited to just share more stories from my staff from the rest of the college.

00;56;34;22 - 00;56;40;13
Darice
And yeah, so we're all set today. And again, Pericles, thank you so much for joining us.

00;56;40;13 - 00;56;43;07
Pericles
Fantastic. Thanks, Theresa, and good luck with the rest of season two.

00;56;43;07 - 00;56;43;22
Darice
Thank you.

00;56;43;22 - 00;56;44;05
Pericles
Thank you.

00;56;44;05 - 00;57;14;22
Darice
Thank you. And so to our listeners, I just want to share don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and also SoundCloud so that you don't miss an episode. So I just want to thank you all again for tuning in. I think everyone for the support we've had throughout our first season and until next time, you know, it's just continue curiosity, stay inspired and continue exploring our kaleidoscope of talent that shapes your college.

00;57;14;22 - 00;57;16;11
Darice
So thank you again.

00;57;16;14 - 00;57;17;09
Pericles
Terrific. Thanks.