Meet the Penn State deans: Clarence Lang talks movies, museums — and a dinner party
As part of a collaborative effort with Penn State, which is releasing a monthly video on school deans and their perspectives and passions, the Centre Daily Times is starting a lighthearted Q&A series that highlights a different dean every month in the hopes the local community gets to know them outside of the classroom.
Up first: Clarence Lang, the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts and a professor of African American studies.
Lang began his Penn State tenure in the summer of 2019, after serving as the University of Kansas’ interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He has been published in various peer-reviewed publications such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, and he’s been awarded multiple honors like being named an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer.
Personally, he’s also a movie buff, thanks to a childhood in Chicago that was filled with theaters.
Centre Daily Times: Let’s start off by sticking with your love of movies. Instead of just asking about your favorite movie, let’s tweak it a bit: If you could watch any movie again for the first time, what would it be and why?
Clarence Lang: I would say it’s a cross between “The Usual Suspects” and “The Sixth Sense” because you can’t un-see the surprises in those movies. I’m going to make this a little painful for you since you just asked me for one — but also “The Godfather.”
It’s just such a smartly written movie and all the intricacies in figuring out the major conflict that propels the drama. And it’s not immediate at the outset. I don’t know if you’ve seen “The Godfather,” but it pivots around a particular conflict that’s not apparent initially but becomes apparent later. ... Of course, you watch it several times and all the indications are there. But it doesn’t pander to the audience at all.
CDT: When you do go to the movies, where are you sitting — aisle, front, back, middle — and what are you snacking on?
Lang: Definitely in the back. Not only do you get the best vantage point of the screen, but you also have a view of everyone else who’s in the theater with you. And, for me, movie-viewing is an interactive exercise, so I like to see how folks are reacting to what’s happening on the screen as well, so that’s what works for me.
And, for me, it’s popcorn with butter. For sure. And fruit punch and Raisinets. That’s why I don’t go to the movies a whole lot these days because I have to have those things. At a certain point, that’s not sustainable. (laughs)
CDT: Let me get away from the movies a little bit. You’re an educator, so “museums” seems like a natural segue here. If you could spend the entire day in any museum in the world, what one are you picking and why?
Lang: I’m kind of pedestrian on this one. I like the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian one (in Washington D.C.) I’ve been there, and one visit doesn’t do it justice. I think it’s just fantastically well done, and it’s one of these places you have to spend some time in it.
My field is African American history, and I like the Smithsonian. I like their museums, but that one is definitely my favorite. ... It doesn’t flinch from the complicated history of this nation as it relates to African American history, but it also points to something hopeful as well. I would say my favorite part is the cultural exhibits; I think they’re the most fascinating.
So there’s one person — I don’t listen to a whole lot of hip-hop music anymore — but there’s this one guy, James Yancey, who went by J Dilla and they have one of his instruments. And that’s not ancient history; that’s within the last 20 years. But it’s also a good reminder of how history is made. That’s one example. But you also have The Mothership, Parliament-Funkadelic, so they have that there. So I really enjoy that aspect of it.
CDT: If you’ve made it to this point in your career, you must’ve gotten some pretty good advice throughout your life. So I know you’ve been asked this before, but I’m really curious what you have to say: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Lang: Let me preface it by saying that the best advice you’ve gotten is not always the advice you’ve followed, but it’s good advice. Which is this: When all else fails, follow your principles and the rest will fall as it falls. Good advice; not always the easiest to follow. But I think that’s the best piece of advice I’ve gotten, well before I even thought about any sort of administration position or frankly even before I was on anyone’s radar for a role like this. So that was from early in my career as a faculty member.
I keep it in mind. You at least try not to fall far from that and the kind of decisions you make, particularly in a moment like this one. ... I try to land there when all else fails: What do my principles tell me I need to do?
CDT: We initially wanted to ask you about the three Penn State alumni, dead or alive, you’d invite to your dream dinner party. But, since you’ve barely been here 2 years, we’ll give you a pass — and just ask, what three overall people would you want at your fantasy dinner party?
Lang: Oh hell. OK. Oh man. So I would have to say Malcolm X, Keith Richards — who’s still alive, I don’t know how — and Aretha Franklin.
Two of them you will see reflect my interest in music, blues-based and soul music. Keith Richards is a blues guitarist, right? People get caught up in the rock thing, but at heart, there’s that. So I’m really interested in that music and, certainly, if you think about Aretha Franklin’s impact, that’s still felt. And, of course, as someone who was born in the ‘70s and grew up in the 1980s, who’s African American and male, Malcolm X just casts a shadow in a sense. He’s flawed but, for some of us at least, still remains this really important icon of possibilities for change in a society.
If you ask me that again, I would have three other people — because now I’m thinking of Ray Charles and what have you. That’s why I hate that question (laughs). Give me 10 instead of three!
