Reilly's Ramblings

What is it like to be a new professor at a liberal arts college and brand new to a part of the country you never been before? That question is precisely what Dr. Barbara Prince is facing currently.

Dr. Barbara Prince is a new professor at Morningside College. She works for the Department of Social Sciences. This semester, she’s teaching two classes: sociology of gender beyond pink and blue and elementary probability in statistics.

She started at Morningside in August of 2018, which makes her a freshman among the other professors and of the college. For new professors, they go to a new faculty seminar, which meets once a month.

“All of the first, second, and third-year faculty and we talk about a book, so it’s kind of like a first-year orientation for faculty.”

She talks about how in the seminar they talk about Morningside, all of the acronyms, what’s going on and happening on campus. She’s also learning from the other professors too as the semester progresses.

Dr. Prince is not from Iowa nor the Midwest part of the United States. She was born Seaford, New York. It’s on Long Island and 40 minutes outside of New York City.

She has one sister named Katherine and two cats named. She lived in Seaford her whole life until she went to college.

Some people may not know this, but she’s shy and is an introvert which may surprise many because she is a professor and has to stand up in front of people and talk to them. Her love and passion for teaching overpower her shyness.

She was also a professional Irish step dancer, starting at the age eight and ended her career when she was in college. She also played basketball as well.

Dr. Prince was an undergraduate at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, which is similar to Morningside College. Elizabethtown currently has 1700 students, is a liberal arts college, work closely with the professors.

She said her experience being at Elizabethtown made her think “that this is what I want to do (teach).”

She went for her master’s degree at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. She received a master’s degree in sociology and a certificate in university teaching.

At West Virginia University is where she started to get the “how-to” in teaching. She then went for a Ph.D. degree at the Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

Being here at Morningside brings back memories of her time at Elizabethtown College. She likes the environment of how the students want to learn, are engaging in class, wanting to meet with her, and how involved they are in sports and events happening on campus.

“I really love it.”

She said that her start at Morningside has been pretty good so far. She’s learning all of the traditions that Morningside College brings.

She said that it has been very challenging “trying to learn the culture here.”

She’s enjoys teaching and has been wanting to do this since she was an undergraduate in college.

“It’s been really exciting to finally get to be a real professor. It is stressful right now, but I’m really enjoying it and having a good time.”