Joseph M. Parent
Summary of All Written Comments on Teaching Evaluation:
I admit I almost dropped the class because of who we were reading, but I perversely enjoyed it. It was different and I liked that you tended to leave open-ended questions as they are. I hate closed discussion. The exams WERE HARD!! Be nicer next time… and grade easier (don’t just curve). I haven’t had agida [sp? Perhaps intends angina?] since freshman year.
Readings should be more closely discussed. Test should have what is discussed in class. Too much reading for too rapid discussion – more focus needed. Don’t take for granted that everybody knows everything.
Good professor, course material, fair grades, encourages students participation. Helps students understand material, helps you cultivate your intellect.
Exams should focus on what is emphasized in class not what is mentioned only once. Readings are too heavy.
Good class. Professor was knowledgeable and kept class interesting. I learned a lot and had my interest broadened.
My favorite academic moment happened as I was reeling from a brilliant lecture on rudimentary Quantum Mechanics in Oberlin, Ohio. On a beautiful day (one of two that year in Oberlin) I was wrestling with the mind-boggling concept. It is one of those moments of awe where you learn something so radical and yet so beautiful that you are stopped dead in your tracks. I remember "seeing" probability clouds all around me. I left that college for a lot of reasons, but one of them was that there weren't enough of those moments to sustain me. I had come from High School in New York, which had taught me more than I thought I could ever learn in slate gray group think world of Oberlin. That was yeas ago now (too many years). The greatest complement I can give you is that I have left your lectures often more perplexed more confused about my world than when I entered. I have had several of those moments of awe. My religious, cultural, and educational background have not prepared me for the idea that humanity may not progress in a moral sense, that the limitations on human intellect are such that we create a false reality to such a profound degree to soothe our minds, and that human happiness does not grow with time or wealth. I do, though, have some misgivings about the class. 1 - I wish there were fewer students. I think something is lost to those who grapple more with their notebooks than with the ideas presented. 2 - I wish the classes were longer or met more frequently. The vast amount of material is overwhelming, and more time to discuss the topics would be ideal. What worries me the most about this class is that you say it may be your last. You are a terribly gifted teacher. Your sense of humor, your presence, your ability to reveal the hidden intricacies of the text are astounding. Ultimately your gift is your fearlessness to challenge your students to excel, to think, to delve into these great works directly without a filter and to learn to distill from them their beauty and wisdom. I will miss it tremendously.
You're the best teacher I've ever had.