Photoessay #2821 - Last class today

Today is the last day of class for winter quarter of the University of Washington.  My class, this quarter, has been a lecture class with about 60 students, offered by the Depts of Germanics and Comparative Literature entitled Jews and German Culture.  Prof. Block is an interesting and entertaining lecturer, well-prepared, clearly a set piece.  The reading list has challenged me.  I knew that I probably was not 'getting' what I was supposed to.  That's why I went to class, to see where he was going with all this.  He clearly cared about the developing academic skills of his undergraduates.  He assigned a series of very short one page papers and talked a lot about how the students should develop their writing and analysis skills.  He also was quick for praise, declaring that this class, as a whole has done some excellent writing with a great deal of insight.

He also mentioned that he was pleased at the attendance, the students showing up.  I often overheard how the students liked this class.  This class might also be part of a FIG Freshman Interest Group tied to an English class.

In this model, the access students (only two of us) took a secondary role.  I sat in the front and contriubuted occasionally but clearly he focused on his regular undergraduate students.  I was fine with that; I knew that would usually be the case.  As opposed to the summer class where the access students were fully integrated.

I took the bus, the class was on the main quad, right next to Suzallo, so handy.  A good time.

Next quarter, I finally get to the History Department.  Every day Life in the Nineteenth Century off in the hinterlands of the West Campus.  We'll see how it goes.  Win win as far as I'm concerned.

A picture of Prof. Block taken from Wikicommons