国产传媒

Jane Crawford was born in South Dakota and attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she obtained a PhD in history. After serving as an academic adviser at UCLA, Crawford became a welcome fixture at Mount Saint Mary’s, where she taught history and humanities classes for more than 25 years.

Part of the original faculty group that started the master’s in humanities, Crawford is credited with creating countless courses, trips abroad, and generating ideas for enriching the program. “She never seemed to run out of ideas, never was too busy or too weary to create new classes for the program that thrives on the unusual,” says Millie Kidd, PhD, the current program director. “Students flocked to her classes. She was witty, smart and extremely knowledgeable. She went out of her way to help students, especially foreign students who seemed to miss their friends and families.”

For the NEH-funded “Women in China” program in 2012, Crawford spent countless hours developing the course with a professor in Nanjing to ensure that it would meet the objectives of both universities, and participated in an email exchange between Mount and Nanjing students, embracing the idea of international friendships.

Crawford was a beloved teacher and a mentor to her younger colleagues. “She made the worlds of the past come alive in a way that instigated my curiosity,” says adjunct English instructor Dara Halperin ’05, MA. “She played ‘the hot hits of Gregorian chants’ when we studied the Middle Ages and held a class vote on the most fashionable outfits from Renaissance portraits. When I began teaching at the Mount she offered support and encouragement that was always so appreciated.”

Andrée Leighton, PhD, director for the Center for Academic Innovation and Creativity and assistant professor, history and political science department, says, “Jane delighted her colleagues with her sharp wit and keen sense of irony. Jane was also incredibly thoughtful. She would remember our interests and shared books and articles that she came across.”

A loving and devoted mother to her son, Nathaniel, Crawford was not above bragging about him, including to her Nanjing students. She also showered her love on stray dogs and cats and was the “patron saint of food” for the menagerie of stray cats on the Doheny Campus.

 

Note: A version of this article first appeared in the spring 2023 Mount Magazine