Interview with Richard Perkins

Title

Interview with Richard Perkins

Description

In this interview with original biology faculty member Richard Perkins, he discusses his work with various students throughout his career at Mount Tahoma High School, TCC, McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary, the Puyallup reservation college, and teaching on a Fulbright Exchange in England. He describes the development of his teaching philosophy, including his move away from midterms and final exams, the importance of biology education as a way of understanding life and all forms of life. In particular, he describes the various projects students voted on and designed throughout the years in his class for non-majors, "Contemporary Biological Problems," including ecological preservation of China Lake and Snake Lake, the creation of a campus recycling program, working with developmentally disabled students at the Rainier School in Buckley (WA), and building the campus nature trail. He briefly touches on other pieces of TCC history including the early days, Black student activism in the sixties, and the 1973 faculty strike.

Content Note: This interview contains use of an outdated and now considered offensive word for developmental disabilities on pages 19 and 22 of the transcript and around the 44 and 52 minute marks of the video, describes abuse and neglect in a care facility with a mention of sexual assault on page 22 of the transcript and around the 52 minute mark of the video.

Subject

Community colleges

Tacoma Community College

oral histories (literary works)

video recordings (physical artifacts)

Creator

Tacoma Community College. Department of Marketing and Communications

Source

Tacoma Community College Department of Marketing and Communications records

Publisher

Tacoma Community College Archives

Date

2013

Contributor

Perkins, Richard

Payne, Rachel

Rights

Use is governed by Tacoma Community College's Creative Commons Copyright policy requiring attribution and share-alike intentions.

Format

PDF

MP4

Language

English

Identifier

TCCA012_PerkinsRichard

Coverage

Tacoma (Wash.)