Interview with Norma Chinchilla

Partial Transcript: "So, without further ado..."

Segment Synopsis: Norma came to UW-Madison in 1966 to be a part of the PhD program in Sociology. She knew nobody here. Norma came from California. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to do research in Guatemala and discussed the political climate in Latin America. Before coming to UW-Madison, she thought she was political, but realized she needed to study politics more once she started classes.

Keywords: Fulbright; Guatemala; Political Climate; Sociology PhD; UW-Madison

Partial Transcript: "And as a woman you did not..."

Segment Synopsis: Norma described feeling a lack of empowerment in her classes. She felt it was a man-driven environment and became an introvert. Once Norma got her first teaching job, she realized what she experienced was sexism. Norma discussed specific types of sexism in the classroom. The dropout rate was very high, but Norma kept telling herself "one more year" and hung on. She believed that having a PhD would help her change the world. Norma credited some of her stress with a lack of female role-models in the department.

Keywords: Sexism; UW-Madison; UW-Madison Sociology Department

Partial Transcript: "And just a detail..."

Segment Synopsis: Norma described being lonely during her first winter at UW. She did not know where to buy warm socks, coats, and was freezing all of the time. Norma described her "two beer" walk home, where she was told to stop in bars if she got too cold.

Keywords: Bars; UW-Madison; Winter

Partial Transcript: "And the other thing that really..."

Segment Synopsis: Norma recalled the cosmopolitanism of the University. She had very close friends in her PhD program from Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Norma kept in touch with these friends, and some of them ended up arrested, or in other bad situations due to their activism or political unrest in their home countries.

Keywords: Cosmopolitanism; Political Activism; Political Unrest; UW-Madison

Partial Transcript: "Just as a follow up question..."

Segment Synopsis: Norma was not formally apart of any organization on campus. She had friends in the Wisconsin Alliance, and attended teach-ins. The Dow Chemical demonstration happened outside of her office, and she enlisted her professor to try to get the police to stop beating students.

Keywords: Activism; Dow Chemical Riots; Student Organizations; Student-Activism; UW-Madison

Partial Transcript: "And you mentioned that you have a background in education..."

Segment Synopsis: Norma's first job was at a liberal arts college; however, she was considered too "radical" and got let go. She ended up at the University of California Irvine for 8 years, but she went through a horrible tenure battle and lost. Norma had a lot of colleagues and even the head of the department turn on her because she had a child and was trying to start a Women's Studies department. She ended up teaching at Cal State Long Beach and has been able to influence a lot of students from diverse backgrounds.

Keywords: Cal State Long Beach; Discrimination; Sexism; Sociology PhD; Tenure; University of California Irvine; Women's Studies

Partial Transcript: "Just a final question..."

Segment Synopsis: UW-Madison taught Norma that she can bring about change. She learned how to organize and how to change people's minds. Some of her friends who came into the university with right-wing perspectives, ended up becoming left-wing activists.

Keywords: Making Change; UW-Madison