Jan Allyson Cooper Papers, 1979, 1989, 1991, 1994-97, n.d.
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Administrative/Biographical History
Jan Cooper, a native of Alabama, received a BA degree from Auburn University, an MA from the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa), and a PhD from the University of Iowa. She joined the Oberlin College faculty in 1984 in the Expository Writing Program. She is the John Charles Reid Associate Professor of Writing and Communication and English.
In 1994, as a result of work by the General Faculty’s committee on lesbian, gay and bisexual concerns, of which Cooper was a member, the college approved a policy to extend health benefits to same-sex domestic partners of faculty members, administrators and professional staff.
In 1997 Cooper was appointed by President Nancy Dye to the Task Force on Student Rights, Responsibilities and Regulations to evaluate the then current rules and regulations and identify the basic rights of all members of the student body. The Task Force also evaluated the judicial system to identify a clear philosophy for developing a new system.
Cooper was the first recipient of the college’s Distinguished Teaching Award in the Humanities in 1998. She was elected to the College Faculty Council and Educational Plans and Policies Committee (EPPC); she also served on the special committee on Faculty Roles, Responsibilities and Rewards. In 2000, she was appointed Acting Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, from July 1 through December 31. In that position she played a major role in the orientation and mentoring of new faculty.
Cooper’s academic interests include queer studies, journalism, writing in the sciences, and southern United States literature. Cooper is currently researching the intersection of race, class, region, and sexuality in Queer American film/television and current issues in American journalism. Cooper’s publications include essays on teaching college writing and on Zora Neale Hurston. With Mary C. Garvin she co-edited Living in the Vermilion River Watershed, a collaborative work with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Firelands Chapter, and Oberlin College in 2008.
With three other faculty members in the Educational Plans and Policies Committee, Cooper proposed the college’s first formal academic program in journalism, passed by the College Faculty committee in November 2019.
Sources
Alana Blumenstein, “Proposal for Journalism Concentration Passes,” The Oberlin
Review, November 18, 2019.
Jan Cooper faculty file, Alumni and Development Records (RG 28).
“Jan Cooper,” Oberlin College, accessed September 30, 2022.
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationAlumni Association Records (RG 20)
Various College-Wide Committee Records (RG 33)
William P. Norris Papers (RG 30/413)
The papers of Jan Cooper predominantly comprised files from her work on the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns Committee (LGBCC), and the Oberlin Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alumni (LGBA) group of the Alumni Association. Those files were transferred to the respective record groups: Various College-Wide Committees, and the Alumni Association. One somewhat informal LGBCC report was kept in this collection in Series 4. Queer Studies Survey.
The materials in this personal paper group are arranged into six series.
Series 1. Correspondence, 1994-95, n.d.
Consists of one folder of electronic mail, one note and an invitation to Drag Ball received by Jan Cooper.
Series 2. Oberlin Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alumni Oral History Editing Project for Expository Writing 103-02, 1991
The OLGBA held a series of oral history taping sessions with groups of alumni discussing their experiences. Cooper assigned students in her Expository Writing course in October of 2002 to transcribe the tapes. Those transcriptions are in four folders, making up the bulk of the papers.
Series 3. Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Pedagogy Workshop (1996), 1979, 1989, 1991, 1996, n.d.
This file comprises a letter with accompanying handouts, copies of articles and writings pertaining to intolerance, conflict, dialogue and feedback in the educational setting. The folder heading was taken directly from the papers as received. There is no information on the workshop itself.
Series 4. Queer Studies Survey, 1995-96, n.d.
A note from Jan Cooper in the first folder explains that the materials in this series reflect an attempt she and Benson Tong made in 1996-97 to propose a Queer Studies Concentration. The files contain completed survey forms by faculty members about relevant courses they intended to teach in 1996-97. The files also include Cooper’s notes, course announcements and descriptions, electronic mail received by Cooper, and a report. The report is titled “Queer Studies. “What is it? Who has it? And How do we get some?” compiled by Robin Russell on May 5, 1995. It was a product of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns Committee. All other LGBCC materials in these papers were filed in the Various College-Wide Committee record group.
Series 5. Newspaper articles, 1995-97, n.d.
Contains three complete issues of The Observer, the newspaper of Oberlin College faculty and staff, and clippings from The Oberlin Review. Cooper made annotations regarding articles that pertain to LGBTQ issues and people on campus.
Series 6. Controversial Incident at Oberlin College, 1994, n.d.
The material in this file is restricted. Permission for access must be granted by the College Archivist. Comprises writings, clippings and correspondence, 1994, n.d.