Interview with Mark Clary, April 1, 1992

Interview Summary

Mark Clary was an Assistant Professor in the College of Architecture at the University of Kentucky. In this interview, Mark Clary describes a "typical" day at work. He discusses how the use of the senses helps us to learn, and how the contact we have with the world is being reorganized because of the "electronic paradigm." Clary explains that he relies on the use of autobiography and allegory in his teaching. He sees this approach as a much more empowering model for teaching. Clary feels his work in teaching and research as interconnected, and talks about the role of politics in education. He discusses the challenge of achieving a balance between home and work. He wants to see more open discussion about this in the teaching environment, and says he wished teachers would bring the "real world" into the classroom more often.

Clary describes his hopes that his work resonates with people so that real growth takes place. He talks about the nature of his research work in the area of electronic phenomena, and its possibilities. Clary states that he wants to make an architectural drawing, model, or building that would be the equivalent of a videomatic script, and emphasizes that this is central to his research. Clary talks about finding intersections or threads that run through people's external and personal lives, and he describes the term "video-literate" in terms of television and generations becoming more naturalized to this medium. Clary wants to see evocative buildings created that move people deeply today like a Gothic cathedral did in the past. He also discusses his study of suburban architecture.

Interview Keyword

Nature of Academic Work

Interview LC Subject

Clary, Mark Clary, Mark--Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.