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Jul. 25th, 2004
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Jul. 25th, 2004 10:26 pmI'm not a member of the Friday Five because I can't manage the discipline to do something like that regularly, but I'm going to gank this last Friday's question and answer.
What were your five favorite classes in College (or in the highest educational institution you completed), and why?
My once stellar memory is a shambles so I'm afraid I often can't remember exact course titles and names of professors. So that'll let you know how userful this will be, HAW!
1. Western Civ - Scott Waugh - UCLA
One of the breadth courses that were required of nearly everyone, this was the kind of class that was held in a huge auditorium. A lot of professors wouldn't put out any effort for a class like this. Scott Waugh KICKED FUCKING ASS. His area was Medieval European History (Britain, specifically, I think) and he was a font of great stories. Every time he needed a hypothetical medieval village he'd call it "Loose Chippings". I didn't realize 'til later that that might even be the real name of a British village since some names there get quite odd. I also remember him telling us the story of some graverobbers who tried to rob the grave of French king Louis le Gros. He was hugely fat and a number of days "ripe". His body exploded all over them. Mr. Waugh scored very highly in the student-run professorial ratings book and deservedly so. I finally decided to look him up a year or so ago. He's still got a UCLA address, so I popped him an email letting him know I've never forgotten him. I don't think I've ever had a more entertaining lecturer.
2. African-American Women's History - Angela Davis - SFSU
Unlike a lot of folks my age or older, I really didn't have much idea of who Angela Davis was. I mean, I knew she figured in the Black Panther movement, but I didn't even know about the Black Panthers 'til I moved up to the Bay Area, I think. My most inexcusable area of historical ignorance is American history 1945 - 1980. When I went to school (pre-collegiate), history wasn't taught past 1945. I was born in 1965. And I didn't pay any attention to the TV or newspaper news until late high school. So I have this big hole in my knowledge of U.S. history. Anyway, I knew a little about who Angela was before taking the class, but not as much as my classmates.
I was at SFSU to get my teaching credential in Social Studies. Since I had my degree in Art, I felt I had a lot of catching up to do. Particularly in addressing the aforementioned hole but also in learning a more multicultural history than I was taught. Teaching that was what excited me about teaching social studies.
Ms. Davis is a deeply impressive woman. Brilliantly intelligent, calm, statuesque, beautiful, courageous. She is all those things. Like a lot of professors, she assigned one of her own books as reading. It was quite eye-opening for me and really increased my respect for her. The course was good. Importantly, I was never made to feel bad for being white. I had taken a Black Studies class where I got those vibes all the time. I viewed it as an exercise in developing empathy. But the quality of the course work was ALWAYS compromised by racial prejudice and politics. This was emphatically NOT the case in Angela's class. It was good solid coursework and one was graded on the merits. I learned a lot.
3. The Anthropology of Women - Mina Caulfield - SFSU
I remember thinking "Okay, this is going a little too far. Why do we need an anthropology of women?" But I ended up fascinated when Ms. Caulfield questioned some of the assumptions made in anthropology and how they might have influenced some of the theories. This class opened a door for me.
4. Art - Jan St¨ssy - UCLA
UCLA's Art Department was pretty hard on me. They had a house style (at that time it was Neo-Expressionism) and wanted students to fit their mold. And I thought I was just going to school to learn the technique to express my own ideas and style... One of the classes at UCLA nearly made me insane while I was in it. St¨ssy was the antidote. He was not an easy teacher. He was very very strict. He required a lot of work. He referred to you by last name so you felt like you were in the army. But he KNEW HIS SHIT. And that was such a rarity at artstar-struck UCLA that St¨ssy really stood out. He made me work hard, he gave good critiques, and he supported my work. Which made him nearly the only art teacher at UCLA to ever do so.
5. Bio 10 The Biology of Economically Important Plants - ? - UCLA
The only reason I can name this course is because I held on to the xeroxed manual. A woman taught this course and I don't remember her name, shamefully. This was a course that some folks saw as a Mickey Mouse course. It was a breadth course for non-majors. But I loved it. I've always loved useful plants (as opposed to ornamentals) and I dug into the coursework. This class was the first place I learned about the differences between various vegetable oils and which were healthy and which weren't. And which had low boiling points. So at least some of the stuff I learned in this course is stuff I use and remember every day.
What were your five favorite classes in College (or in the highest educational institution you completed), and why?
My once stellar memory is a shambles so I'm afraid I often can't remember exact course titles and names of professors. So that'll let you know how userful this will be, HAW!
1. Western Civ - Scott Waugh - UCLA
One of the breadth courses that were required of nearly everyone, this was the kind of class that was held in a huge auditorium. A lot of professors wouldn't put out any effort for a class like this. Scott Waugh KICKED FUCKING ASS. His area was Medieval European History (Britain, specifically, I think) and he was a font of great stories. Every time he needed a hypothetical medieval village he'd call it "Loose Chippings". I didn't realize 'til later that that might even be the real name of a British village since some names there get quite odd. I also remember him telling us the story of some graverobbers who tried to rob the grave of French king Louis le Gros. He was hugely fat and a number of days "ripe". His body exploded all over them. Mr. Waugh scored very highly in the student-run professorial ratings book and deservedly so. I finally decided to look him up a year or so ago. He's still got a UCLA address, so I popped him an email letting him know I've never forgotten him. I don't think I've ever had a more entertaining lecturer.
2. African-American Women's History - Angela Davis - SFSU
Unlike a lot of folks my age or older, I really didn't have much idea of who Angela Davis was. I mean, I knew she figured in the Black Panther movement, but I didn't even know about the Black Panthers 'til I moved up to the Bay Area, I think. My most inexcusable area of historical ignorance is American history 1945 - 1980. When I went to school (pre-collegiate), history wasn't taught past 1945. I was born in 1965. And I didn't pay any attention to the TV or newspaper news until late high school. So I have this big hole in my knowledge of U.S. history. Anyway, I knew a little about who Angela was before taking the class, but not as much as my classmates.
I was at SFSU to get my teaching credential in Social Studies. Since I had my degree in Art, I felt I had a lot of catching up to do. Particularly in addressing the aforementioned hole but also in learning a more multicultural history than I was taught. Teaching that was what excited me about teaching social studies.
Ms. Davis is a deeply impressive woman. Brilliantly intelligent, calm, statuesque, beautiful, courageous. She is all those things. Like a lot of professors, she assigned one of her own books as reading. It was quite eye-opening for me and really increased my respect for her. The course was good. Importantly, I was never made to feel bad for being white. I had taken a Black Studies class where I got those vibes all the time. I viewed it as an exercise in developing empathy. But the quality of the course work was ALWAYS compromised by racial prejudice and politics. This was emphatically NOT the case in Angela's class. It was good solid coursework and one was graded on the merits. I learned a lot.
3. The Anthropology of Women - Mina Caulfield - SFSU
I remember thinking "Okay, this is going a little too far. Why do we need an anthropology of women?" But I ended up fascinated when Ms. Caulfield questioned some of the assumptions made in anthropology and how they might have influenced some of the theories. This class opened a door for me.
4. Art - Jan St¨ssy - UCLA
UCLA's Art Department was pretty hard on me. They had a house style (at that time it was Neo-Expressionism) and wanted students to fit their mold. And I thought I was just going to school to learn the technique to express my own ideas and style... One of the classes at UCLA nearly made me insane while I was in it. St¨ssy was the antidote. He was not an easy teacher. He was very very strict. He required a lot of work. He referred to you by last name so you felt like you were in the army. But he KNEW HIS SHIT. And that was such a rarity at artstar-struck UCLA that St¨ssy really stood out. He made me work hard, he gave good critiques, and he supported my work. Which made him nearly the only art teacher at UCLA to ever do so.
5. Bio 10 The Biology of Economically Important Plants - ? - UCLA
The only reason I can name this course is because I held on to the xeroxed manual. A woman taught this course and I don't remember her name, shamefully. This was a course that some folks saw as a Mickey Mouse course. It was a breadth course for non-majors. But I loved it. I've always loved useful plants (as opposed to ornamentals) and I dug into the coursework. This class was the first place I learned about the differences between various vegetable oils and which were healthy and which weren't. And which had low boiling points. So at least some of the stuff I learned in this course is stuff I use and remember every day.