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Rainier Spencer oral history interview (OH-02888)

Abstract

Oral history interview with Rainier Spencer conducted by Sarah Buckner on April 27, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Spencer discusses his personal history and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1997. He talks about his experience as a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and his involvement regarding diversity issues at UNLV. Spencer then discusses the novel Imitation of Life by Fannie Hurst and how he uses the issues of racism in that story to describe the notion of biological race, social race, and the idea that race is socially constructed. Later, Spencer recalls teaching civil rights courses and how he dealt with students who had misconceptions about the course subjects. Lastly, Spencer talks about his favorite pieces of literature to use in his courses.

Finding Aid PDF

Date

2015-04-27

Extent

1 digital_files (0.088 GB) MP3

Related People/Corporations

Creator: Spencer, Rainier, 1956-
Contributor: African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project

Scope and Contents Note

Oral history interview with Rainier Spencer conducted by Sarah Buckner on April 27, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Spencer discusses his personal history and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1997. He talks about his experience as a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and his involvement regarding diversity issues at UNLV. Spencer then discusses the novel Imitation of Life by Fannie Hurst and how he uses the issues of racism in that story to describe the notion of biological race, social race, and the idea that race is socially constructed. Later, Spencer recalls teaching civil rights courses and how he dealt with students who had misconceptions about the course subjects. Lastly, Spencer talks about his favorite pieces of literature to use in his courses. Digital audio available; no transcript available.

Access Note

Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.

Publication Rights

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish. Some transcripts do not exist in final form, therefore any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked.

Preferred Citation

Rainier Spencer oral history interview, 2015 April 27. OH-02888. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Permalink

http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1tq7f

Acquisition Note

This interview was conducted by the Oral History Research Center (OHRC) which is part of the UNLV University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Division.

Processing Note

Interview materials were processed by UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives in 2016. Miguel Dominguez wrote the collection description. Access copies were created for born-digital audio and/or transcript files. The audio has been minimally reviewed and all readily available information has been included in the description.

Subjects

University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Oral histories (document genres)
African Americans
Las Vegas (Nev.)
Racism
African American teachers
Race relations

Collection Type

Oral Histories

EAD ID

US::NvLN::OH02888

Finding Aid Description Rules

Describing Archives: A Content Standard
English