Oral history interview with Robert W. Hanning, 2014

Biographical Note

Robert Hanning grew up in Brooklyn and attended Columbia College (class of 1958), where his interest in medieval literature developed. He completed graduate studies in English at Columbia and Oxford and he began teaching at Columbia in 1963 and remained at Columbia for his entire career as a professor of Medieval Studies, eventually including classes on the construction of race and ethnicity. Since the late 1960s, he was actively involved, along with Joan Ferrante, in advocating for the rights of women on campus. He played a crucial role in drawing attention to salary inequity in the early 1970s by publicly revealing his salary, providing data for women on campus advocating for fair pay. He was also part of the Ad Hoc Committee on Women in the early 1980s, helping formalize issues that were raised during open sessions into more structured forums. As faculty in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Hanning was an ally of women and supported the pursuit of feminist scholarship. Hanning retired in 2006

Scope and Contents

Robert Hanning begins this interview with a discussion of his early education at Brooklyn Technical High School and subsequent undergraduate and graduate studies. At age 16, Hanning enrolled in the Columbia University undergraduate class of 1958. Hanning reflects on his perceptions of the Core Curriculum and impressions of Lionel Trilling. After continuing his studies at the University of Oxford and then Columbia, Hanning joined Columbia's faculty and became a tenured professor in 1969. Hanning describes his wife's experiences in academia in contrast with his own; She was denied a fellowship at Yale University while Hanning had no female colleagues. He characterizes this as a catalyst for his political engagement while at Columbia. He describes his involvement with the Civil Rights Movement and the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Hanning also describes two courses, taught in collaboration with David Rosand, which came out of this era. Hanning addresses the gender inequity of faculty pay, and his decision to publicize his salary in order to demonstrate this. He explains the subsequent formation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Women, including the group's primary objectives and his work with Joan Ferrante, Linda Bergley, Betty Jemmott, and Austin Flint. Finally, Hanning cites the controversy surrounding Carolyn Heilbrun's and Susan Winnetts' departures from Columbia. Hanning concludes his recollections by describing his guilt over having complicity in and benefitting from the "old boys' club" in place, and how this contributed to his subsequent mobilization around inequality in academia

Subjects

• College teachers--Interviews.
• Columbia University--Interviews--Alumni and alumnae.
• Columbia University. Institute for Research on Women and Gender.
• Dziedzic, Sarah, interviewer.
• Hanning, Robert W.--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Pay equity--United States.
• Sex discrimination in higher education.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2014