Those of you who know me well know how important teaching is to me, so I was pretty thrilled when I got my fall term teaching evaluations today. For the first time in my teaching career, for my Stories of Slavery and Freedom seminar, I received the highest possible rating (5.0/5.0) for both Course Overall and Instructor Overall (in addition to Course Materials, Generates Enthusiasm, and Facilitates Discussion and Encourages Participation). One student said: This course is absolutely incredible. Tim is the best professor Ive ever had...believe the hype! As the kids say, #LOL! The thing Im proudest of, however, is their responses to the questions: What did you learn? How did this course change you? Heres a sample of their responses: This course changed the entire way I look at the world; more than anything, this class has taught me just how important empathy is; this course has pushed me out of my comfort zone and also held me while there; it changed the way I act in a classroom--this was the most respectful and challenging class; overall, I really got a sense of the idea that we are all implicated in the problems of the world, even the ones we dont see; I not only gained knowledge to help me grapple with the state of our country/world, I also better learned how to have respectful discussions about race; it made African-American history seem very present, real, and prevalent in our society today; this course has made me realize that there is still so much left to learn, and has given me the feeling that I *must* know all this; sitting back is not an option. I must be active; this course dramatically broadened and strengthened my knowledge of the history of slavery in the United States; I now have a greater appreciation for why race relations are the way they are, a better understanding about how our country of freedom built itself on the backs of slaves, and a better insight into the pain that slaves endured; my peers made me be more deeply thoughtful, and they made the class a space in which I could take big intellectual risks; I was challenged to think about uncomfortable topics such as the legacy of slavery; this class helped me to not only view history with a different, more three-dimensional perspective, but also to view present-day issues through this historical lens. All last semester, I kept saying that this was the best undergraduate teaching and learning experience Ive ever been a part of, and now I know that they felt it too. Not sure exactly why the fall semester was so different, but I cant help thinking it has something to do with the historical moment were all living in. The semester began in the wake of Michael Browns murder in Ferguson, MO, and it ended with Darren Wilsons non-indictment and the protests that swept the nation. My students are engaged in a serious reckoning right now, asking tough questions of themselves and their country, and they seem willing to do the difficult work that is needed if we are ever to have a reasonable hope for a better day. Some of that work begins with history. As Ralph Ellison once wrote: The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead. Never have I felt the truth of that wisdom more than I did last semester. Let us carry on.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 23:58:54 +0000
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