Winston, Krishna, April 10, 2021

In this interview, Krishna Winston discusses her unorthodox path to her hiring and tenure at Wesleyan as a professor in German Studies and Environmental Studies (the latter of which she was an integral part of its inception); growing up in the rural Northeast and the schooling disruptions resulting from this; her experience at Radcliffe and Smith, including study-abroad in Hamburg through a Smith program; how her early experiences in Europe informed her academic interests; her personal intellectual interests, including Walter Mehring and Ödön von Horváth. She also discusses her various positions at Wesleyan University, both as an academic and as an administrator (administering Mellon Foundation Program and taking on the role of Dean of the College). She recalls being up for tenure and experiencing pregnancy at the same time; her transition from fellowship to faculty; reflects on how her work in translation fits into the structure of academia; discusses her influences at Wesleyan, including but not limited to fellow Germanic scholars Larry Gemeinhardt, Jerry Wensinger, Art Schultz, and Herb Arnold, as well as more administrative influences such as Edgar Beckham and Janine Montero. She reflects on the importance of diversity and community engagement as parts of her work at Wesleyan that she was encouraged to take on and values highly in her experience. She concludes by discussing her role at the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty and the impacts of her programming there due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to her hopes for the program moving forward.