Interim continued to mature in the late 1980s, and although traditional classroom projects continued to dominate, internship opportunities increased. In addition to law, medicine, dentistry, ministry, and accounting, the opportunity to undertake internships in a congressional office became available.
The bicentennial of the Constitution provided an opportunity for a number of inter-related projects in 1988. Perhaps not coincidentally, Dr. Linton Dunson’s project on “The Philadelphia Convention, 1787” was the first listed project. Others that related included Dr. Richard Wallace’s “Economic Analysis of Common Law and the Constitution of the United States,” Dr. Tom Thoroughman’s “Evolution of the English Constitution,” Dr. David Tyner’s “Contemporary Perspectives on the Constitution,” Dr. George Martin’s “The Life and Mind of James Madison,” Dr. Ta-Tseng Ling’s “Summing Up at 200: What’s Happened to the Words We Live By,” and a few others.
The college also sponsored a series of talks and a symposium during Interim on “Perspectives on the Constitution” with eight faculty talks throughout the month, two each week. Many of the leaders of constitution-themed Interim projects, including Professors Thoroughman, Martin, Dunson, Tyner, Packer, Simpson, Stephenson, and Wallace lectured on various topics. The symposium featured Nobel laureate Dr. James Buchanan along with Dr. William Leuchtenburg and Dr. Eugene Miller, and the library sponsored a National Archives traveling exhibit on the constitution’s bicentennial.
Travel projects remained fairly heavily focused on Europe and the Caribbean. The traditional Ireland Interim, Vienna, Madrid, the Dominican Republic, and Quebec were among the travel projects offered in 1988. Britain, Madrid, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas were among the offerings in 1987.
Fencing, debating, and taxation made re-appearances, as did projects on specific books or writers. The theater and music departments put on a production of Grease, and students undertook independent research on campus and in other parts of the world. One student actually studied the effects of the Chernobyl radiation leak in Norway. Interim continued to offer students opportunities to explore interesting topics, practice their foreign language skills, see different parts of the world, or explore a career.
Photo: The cast of Grease, 1988.
