Category Archives: Reflections

Recollections of memories and encounters with Joan Iversen

“If Joan taught a class in basket weaving I would have taken it… She was THAT good”

01 Friday Nov 2013

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Russ Padden & Joan Iversen 2002 at her 70th birthday

Russ Padden & Joan Iversen 2002 at her 70th birthday

I read an average of a book a week – usually History. Finished one Thursday, started another Friday. This is part of the legacy of having Joan as a teacher.

I took my first class from her as a Sophomore in 1970 and eventually took every class she taught. She awakened in me a love of learning and enhanced the desire to question the pablum that we are fed as “History.” I have often commented that if Joan taught a class in basket weaving I would have taken it… She was THAT good. Continue reading →

“She demanded more of me until I learned to demand more of myself”

24 Thursday Oct 2013

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My name is Linda Robins and I wanted to tell you how sad I was to learn of your mom’s passing today.

I was one of the thousands of her Oneonta students. I attended between 1981 and 1985.

Electric. I am now remembering her voice, her movement, her command as she taught in lecture halls both large and small. Your mom challenged me. She pushed me. Continue reading →

“Suddenly, I understood so much more about my own family life.”

19 Saturday Oct 2013

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Dr. Iversen & two student at the DC Rally

Pro-Choice Rally, DC, circa 1985 w/SUCO Women’s Alliance members Stevi Calandra & Robin Frankel. (Joan Iversen in the middle)

I still have my notes from a history class taught by Dr. Iversen that I took decades ago.  As a kid, I was never a history buff.  I considered history to be a very male pursuit.  Mostly because every history enthusiast I knew were men obsessed with war history.  Like my Dad who watched every WWII movie a zillion times.  Joan Iversen changed all that for me. Continue reading →

“She Encouraged Her Students to Aim Higher”

14 Monday Oct 2013

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As a quiet, first generation college student, your mom would not have remembered me – but I believe that was, perhaps, her greatest gift: she was simply inspirational to ALL of her students (particularly to the young women as I was in the early 1980’s).

In the classroom – she was a force – using slides and music as she lectured – and was completely captivating and ahead of her time. Her enthusiasm was boundless and infectious – we cared because she cared.

She encouraged her students to aim higher. I know I did.

~Tracy Fontao

A Brief Overview Of Her Life — An Adapted Obituary

04 Friday Oct 2013

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Photo of Joan Smyth Iversen in 1967

Joan Smyth (later Joan Iversen) around 1967

Here’s an adapted version of the obituary that I wrote (with photo added of Max, the dog):

Joan Smyth Iversen, 81, of Oneonta, passed away on Sept. 16, 2013, at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY after complications resulting from knee replacement surgery.

She was predeceased by her first husband, Terence J. Smyth, and her parents. She was survived by her husband of 44 years, Jack Iversen, a retired faculty member at the State University of New York at Oneonta; her five children, Nancy Smyth, Tod Iversen, Terence Smyth, Kristen Cartwright, and Jill Iversen; her sister, Dawn Danielson, and her nine grandchildren.

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