If you find yourself wandering the upstairs of Kiernan Hall, you may hear the cheerful laughter of Dr. Dorsey coming from the McCormick Center. Dr. Jennifer Dorsey is a Professor of History here at Siena College and the Director of the McCormick Center. Take a look into her “History of New York” class and drop by to learn about opportunities for students regarding work in Humanities and History. Just by meeting her once, you’ll understand why she is called the “Queen Bee”. Â
Degrees:Â Ph.D. American History: Georgetown University, M.A. American History: Boston College, B.A. History: Emory University
HC Siena: Why did you come to Siena to teach?
Jennifer Dorsey: I came to Siena in the Fall of 2008, and at the time, the History department was starting up what became the McCormick Center for the study of the American Revolution. They were looking for a historian who was a specialist in Revolutionary Era Studies to come and teach classes in colonial revolutionary America, and to help build the center. By the way, I came from Arizona State University; I was a faculty member there.
HC Siena:Â What is your favorite subject to teach?
JD: So I like to write about the American Revolution and the period between about 1790 and 1825, but I actually like to teach about colonial America (which is the 1600s and the 1700s). So that’s my favorite class to teach, maybe because it’s the class that students–well, in both of my classes, I teach “Colonial America” and “Revolutionary War”–come into with a lot of preconceived notions about what life in colonial America was like, or how people experienced the American Revolution, and I love the look on their faces when they realize that what they thought was accurate is not the whole story, or there is more to the story. So I enjoy that. I also really like “New York State History” because it’s a very hands-on class. We do a lot of projects in there and go on field trips to see local historic sites.
HC Siena: What is your role in the McCormick center?
JD: I am the Director of the McCormick Center and, as such, I have a couple of responsibilities. One is to work with local historic sites to create educational opportunities for our students, so experiential learning opportunities, whether it’s an internship, an academic service learning project, or a field trip. So, one is maintaining those relationships, two is getting students aware of those opportunities to work at those historic sites as interns, on projects through CURCA, or a class that they are taking. Â
HC Siena:Â How can students utilize the McCormick Center?
JD: Call me! Call me, email me, come and see me! Talk to some of our students. My students go on and do really interesting work because I really love finding new ways to bring students in. If we only think about students as students, as people who sit at a desk and receive information, then they are under-utilized. Our students have a lot of talent and a lot of enthusiasm, and they are chomping at the bit for opportunities to practice what they know, to apply their knowledge in real-world situations. Our humanities students need more places where they can apply their knowledge on real tasks and projects that will advance history education in the Capital Region. That’s what I do.
HC Siena: What is your favorite historic site?
JD:Â As somebody who does early American History, the usual favorites are Philadelphia and everything about Philadelphia. And Colonial Williamsburg. Recently, I was in Paris and I went to a museum where they had a fantastic exhibit on Napoleon…that was really special. I went to Korea a couple of years ago, and they have a Korean Folk Village, which is like the colonial Williamsburg of Korea. I found that fascinating too. Is there a bad historical site? I don’t know if I have a favorite. I go to historic sites wherever I am, and a part of it is I’m going to learn something I didn’t already know. I also like to see how other countries tell their history, especially if it’s a history I think I’m already familiar with.
HC Siena: Why are you called “Queen Bee?”
JD: *Laughs* That’s less to do with teaching and more with my family! I had been yearning to get a new tattoo and I got the bee because one, I was very interested in taking back the image of the queen bee. It’s a very negative connotation about women, you know the mean girl or the queen bee, what have you. I wanted to take that back because women can be powerful and be supportive and encouraging of other women, especially young women. There’s that whole premise of the queen bee–that she has to die to let another queen bee in. I feel that it’s my role to nurture other little bees as they come up and become the queen bees themselves. The bee was also Napoleon’s chosen symbol and so it kind of commemorated my time in Paris. It had to do with my household too because my daughter, Josephine, and I go at each other and the older she gets, the more she thinks she should be the queen bee. I felt like whoever is willing to put the ink in their skin gets to be the queen bee.Â
HC Siena: Where is your favorite place to eat?
JD: Lonnstrom Dining Hall, of course! My son is Korean so we like all things Korean. There’s a Korean restaurant called Soul Korean, it’s really good. Because of my son, the family has adopted all things Korean, the history and culture, language, pop music, so when we want to have a nice family dinner, we go out for Korean.