Arthur Kuflik (UVM Professor Emeritus): Hi, Tara. I know you enjoyed your philosophical studies back in the mid-1990’s. You are now a practicing architect. What perspective on philosophy can you offer today’s students here at UVM?

Tara Wood: Actually, my having majored in philosophy – and my continuing interest in philosophical thought — has been incredibly helpful to me both in my architectural studies and in the professional work I have done since then.

A.K.: That‘s truly great to hear, but how so?

Tara Wood: When I got to architecture school, I found that most of my colleagues had majored in engineering or in (undergraduate level) architecture. Of course, they had worked hard to absorb the technical materials that were taught to them. But they had little or no experi- ence thinking in broader conceptual terms and they weren’t very accustomed to analytical or critical thought.

A.K.: How does that sort of thinking play a role in architectural design?

Tara Wood: As an architect, you need to analyze what needs or purposes the project is intended to serve, and conceptualize various ways of prioritizing and meeting those needs. At the same time, what is built must also be in compliance with various codes — not only having to do with construction but also, for example, with environmental protection and with zoning. Such codes are not always written very clearly or accessibly. My ability to read and to decipher them, to raise appropriate questions about what they mean, has a lot to do with the work I did in philosophy — reading and interpreting still more difficult and demanding philosophical texts, whether Kant or Heidegger, Nagel or Chalmers. And the same could be said about what it takes to write up a project proposal or to provide a progress report. The skills we honed as students of philosophy have a lot to do with being able to do the kind of work I do now in the way I believe it needs to be done.

A.K.: On a lighter note, I also understand that you co-own, with your husband, a brewery you designed.

Tara Wood: Yes, the Cycle Brewery in St. Petersburg, Florida. I designed it and he manages it.

A.K.: Well, OK then — one last question — is there a brewery in Vermont you especially like?

Tara Wood: Yes, the Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro, Vermont!