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Ruth P. Feingold joined ������Ƶ College as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College on July 1, 2025.  She took a few minutes of reflection to answer a few questions about her first impressions of ������Ƶ, her academic field, and her varied interests outside of work.

What attracted you to the dean position at ������Ƶ?

Well, ������Ƶ’s reputation as a community of engaged, individualistic scholars and learners is virtually unparalleled in the world of small liberal arts colleges — and that’s the world I love. ������Ƶ has been on my radar for a long, long time, so even though I wasn’t looking for a job, I was pretty intrigued when I learned that the position was available. Meeting the various people involved with the search, and in particular talking with President Harris about her vision for the college, sealed the deal for me.

Tell us a little about your academic specialty – what’s your field of study?

I study the world of empire and its aftermath — specifically the British empire. So, while I describe myself as a post-colonialist, to me this means everything from the early establishment of colonies through independence movements, and on into the present day — and I look at both former British colonies and also Britain itself. I am particularly interested in the relationships between individual and national identity; in settler colonists and reverse colonization; and in questions of gender. Oh — and I come from a literary studies tradition. That’s probably important to note!

What’s the best book you’ve read in the last six months and why?

Probably Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, which is an Arthurian retelling. I love retellings and revisions. You see a lot of these in the fantasy/myth space — things like Madeline Miller’s Circe and Song of Achilles, and the huge range of contemporary feminist fairytales from authors such as Angela Carter, Naomi Novik, and Alix Harrow. But I’d further expand on this category to include any novel that itself presents events from multiple points of view. Ian MacEwan’s Atonement is a novel about the power and the moral responsibility of authors, and its central character basically keeps writing and rewriting the same story her whole life, trying to get it right. So, we as readers see these different versions. That idea of the constructedness of stories, and the ways foundational tales weave themselves through culture, fascinates me.

Iowa is a long way from Oregon, what are your first impressions of Iowa and ������Ƶ?

Well, I’m from the Midwest originally, and have lived in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois, so Iowa isn’t completely alien to me. I love driving the two-lane highways around here and looking at the rippling fields — there have been some magnificent sunsets. And I’ve discovered that Des Moines has some great vintage stores.  

Campus has been very quiet in the summer, and while I’m looking forward to seeing it come alive with students and faculty in late August, it’s also been a lovely and relaxed way of getting to learn my way around. I’ve been exploring campus, poking my head into different buildings, taking tours of the residence halls. One of the things I’ve already learned I love about campus is the number of little nooks and crannies, both inside of buildings and outside on the quads, where people can tuck themselves away for some privacy.  

In past positions, you have been very engaged with students, how do you see that evolving as students return to campus for the fall semester?

It can be hard to meet students when you’re not in the classroom, so I’ll need to work to overcome this. I’m hoping to spend as much time as possible out and about on campus — going to events, but also just walking around and meeting folks. I hope people will be willing to talk with me! I’ll be walking my dogs, at least some of the time. which should be an icebreaker.  

Can you tell us about those dogs (as a dog person) and their role in your life?

I’m not only a dog person — I pretty much love all animals. My Instagram is full of orphaned sea otter pup rescue stories. But since I’m not a trained wildlife rehabilitator, my household menagerie is restricted to my border collie, Pingo, and my Australian Shepherd, Keweenaw (known as Kiwi). I’ve had them both since they were puppies, and they were raised on a college campus, so they love students. Anyone who misses their dogs at home is welcome to come get a little love from mine if you see us on campus! Pingo is a little neurotic — she gets very over-stimulated by cars (and golf carts) and tries to herd them. Kiwi is mostly fascinated by the bunnies he sees everywhere. In Oregon, I did agility with both of them; I’m still trying to find a place to train and compete here.

Is there something about you that new acquaintances are surprised to learn?

Hmm. What don’t people expect of an English professor? I used to manage a race team — specifically, a rally team. Rally is a sport that has a team of driver & navigator taking cars over forest roads and suchlike at speed. It tends to cause a lot of damage to the vehicles, and I’d try to come up with creative ways of fixing them in the middle of nowhere. I also autocross, which is a much lower-key sport, involving driving fast around a parking lot and avoiding orange safety cones.  

What do you like to do when you aren’t at work?

Check my work e-mail?  

No, really — I like hiking, or even just walking, and I love international travel. I recently combined these things by doing a walking pilgrimage in North Wales. My friend and I walked about 185 miles in just over two weeks — all up and down mountains, across sheep pastures, and along sea cliffs. It was both hard work and incredibly lovely. And I managed to sneak in a play in London on my way there. That’s another passion of mine: live theatre.