Moody-Adams will work for a ‘21st century’ CC

Shortly after moving in from Ithaca, philosophy professor and new Columbia College Dean Michele Moody-Adams sat down with Spectator’s Alexa Davis for an exclusive interview on her transition to Columbia from Cornell, love of spicy food, and her thoughts on being the first African American and woman to hold her post.

Spec:
What have you been up to since July, when you officially moved in?

MMA:
Lots of things. I’ve been touring residence halls and getting a sense of the first-year student residential experience, learning more about upperclass students and how they make their way on campus. I’ve toured a lot of other student spaces in Lerner and some of the fraternities and sorority houses. So I’ve seen a great deal and met a lot of people and I’ve walked a lot! You wouldn’t think with a campus this compact, but I’ve done a lot of walking.

But the transition has been good. It’s not something that will end even when the beginning of the academic year starts because you can’t come new to a really complicated research university and think you know what you need to know for some time. And I’m aware of that. People joke about the phrase “the learning curve is steep.” The learning curve is steep, but I’ve been at a lot of similar institutions, large, and I’ve been at some not so similar institutions that are small so I know higher education really well but I don’t know Columbia really well. I’ve talked to students, talked with staff, and some faculty. It’s going well but I have a lot more to learn.

Spec:
What has been the most challenging part of the transition to Columbia from Cornell?

MMA:
I’m a city person. I grew up in Chicago. I used to take the bus to school in high school. For piano lessons I’d be on the subway and the elevator train going back and forth. And I lived in cities for much of my time other than my time in Ithaca. I spent a lot of my life in the Boston area, so it comes very naturally to me, and I like New York. For a while I actually felt a little disloyal when I realized, maybe it was late last week, that I like New York a whole lot.

You know I’m a born and bred native Chicagoan and it’s very much a part of me, but I like New York. There have been challenges, when you drive much of the time in your daily life and then you come to New York and you put your car in the garage for much of the week, that’s a very different experience. I walk more here, probably take more public transportation in the weekends than I ever would’ve dreamt of doing in Ithaca. In many ways, I don’t know enough to know just how many differences there will be in the sort of culture of the places, but in a lot of ways there aren’t many differences at all: smart students; smart, talented faculty; very experienced and accomplished administrators. That’s going to be almost a seamless transition. The culture of the place, what people expect about interactions between the various units of the school, that’s going to look different, but I couldn’t have learned that in the time I’ve been here. But I’m working on it.

Spec:
Your husband and daughter moved with you to New York. How has the transition been for them?

MMA:
It’s been good. My daughter and I are thrilled that my husband is here at Columbia as a professor of English and comp lit. And he’s a specialist in British Victorian literature, every dimension of it. He teaches other things as well, but he’s delighted to be here. And in fact he has for years had several connections with the people he’ll now have as colleagues in the English department. We’ve been welcomed very fully into Columbia. My daughter is going to be starting school in the fall at Brearley. She’s used to being driven places, she’s ready for the independence but it will be a study in getting yourself to places on time with public transportation. We’re working out a few routes, so that’s a fun thing.

Spec:
Besides academics, what are you passionate about? What are your hobbies? I know you consider yourself a “foodie.”

MMA:
I love any food that’s well prepared and delicious. I love good food, I love “international” and ethnic food, particularly if it’s spicy.

I’m also getting back into photography as a hobby. I just for Mother’s Day was given a pretty nice little SLR digital [camera]. When I was growing up my father had photography as a major hobby and he had even built a dark room in our basement. I was never very good at developing so digital is good for me.

I’m not especially knowledgeable as I’d like to be about with technological things but I’m kind of a low-level techie kind of person so I like gadgets and I do a lot of stuff with photography.

I’m the family photographer, even for our holiday picture! We do the self-timer with the tripod. We’re a wacky group.

I’m also a big fan of architecture. I would even say if I hadn’t done this I would’ve wanted to be talented in architecture. I love city architecture, I love learning about it, I love seeing it. Even though I think I know New York sort of well, at least Manhattan, at some point I want to take a tour where I can be given a sense of locations and get to the other boroughs.

I used to be more of an exercise person than I’ve become as I’ve gotten old. I used to actually be, when I first got married about 25 years ago, I used to do weight lifting. I would go two times a day to the gym! This was to keep me sane while I was trying to finish up some writing.

Tags: News, Alexa Davis, Columbia College, Michele Moody-Adams