The Hidden Treasures of Professors That We Should Share

My Yale professor, Rollin “Rolly” Osterweis built a collection of books by and about Washington Irving (here).  I just came across this, and it was a surprise. He was known as a scholar of the Old South and also of New Haven. (Please see the bio in this website.) 

 I wonder how many experiences and talents we have that we, unfortunately, fail to share with our students. 

I took his course in The History and Practice of American Oratory, as did John Kerry, the younger Bush, and probably my classmate, George Pataki, and William F. Buckley, Jr., and many others. It was an easy course, but it confirmed my belief that what you take away from a course has little to do with how rigorous it is.  I still use what I learned there and think about things he said both in and out of class. Who knows what influences we have on our students? Probably more than we know.

(ljs)