June 4, 2018

Returned to the Y in the dark of the morning, and feeling the better for it.  Dozens of handsome men. One needs to remember that as inspiration toward a regular workout schedule.

Experiments with kimchi have proved disastrous: two portions on two different days, two episodes of explosive and urgent diarrhea.

Read my faculty evaluation. It was better than I expected, concerning the upheavals of the past year. I do not read my student evaluations, but enough of them are quoted on the chair’s for me to get the picture. Rick points out that in the SAME CLASS one student says, “He concentrates on getting the full meaning out of individual works, so that sometimes the big picture is lost,” and another says, “Good on the big picture, but sometimes misses close readings of individual works. “ Enough students still think I’m the universal genius to make it worth my while. The lazy and the ill-prepared are frustrated by me. Not one who has loved literature has ever failed to love me.

Excerpt:

David taught the following courses this year: LANG 260: Introduction to Creative Writing, LANG 365: Playwriting Workshop, LANG 494: Senior Seminar in Creative Writing, LIT 327: Readings in Poetry, LIT 335: Western Literature: Enlightenment to Modern, and LIT 446: Studies in Modern Literature: Irish Renaissance. This in itself represents a remarkable range of teaching. On his student evaluations, his rating of instructor numbers are as follows: LANG 260, 4.1; LANG 365, 4.6; LANG 494, 3.6; LIT 327, 3.6; LIT 335, 2.8; LIT 446, 5. These numbers, too, reflect a wide range from 2.8 to 5 (only a few faculty members receive a 5 for one or another of their classes). Student comments also range from the highest praise to criticism, especially with regard to giving clear instructions on assignments, due dates, standards for grading, and related matters. A student in LIT 327: Readings in Poetry, writes, "He's one of the only professors I've encountered at UNC-A who doesn't seem to have lost faith in the traditional lecture method. Thankfully there is still a niche in higher education where I can learn what I cannot see as well as what I can. This is a professor that doesn't cede his class entirely to the material qualms of my generation. Here, finally, is a class about the arts that embraces the spiritual nature of art, rather than talking around it as if it doesn't exist, or as if art ought to work in service to material matters. This teacher understands the nature of his work on a very deep level." A student in LIT 335: Western Literature: Enlightenment to Modern writes, "I wish all courses met the high mark set by this one. It hit all my criteria for a great class: material was broad in scope but still within the bounds of the course, all of it was explained thoroughly with cross reference, the professor set no arbitrary rules about the syllabus and classroom procedure, each session was dynamic and fluid, I felt like I learned something real by the end, and it encouraged myself and my fellow students to be reflective and engaged. This class was completely optional for me but I'm glad my gut feeling about it during registration was correct."

 

Sounds, finally, of the mowing of the lawn.