What’s your favorite class to teach?

Kelli Kazmier, chemistry: I will use this opportunity to plug the course that I think students might be the least familiar with, my upper level elective, Topics in Pharmacology. I love this course personally because it allows me to stay engaged with the state of the science research in an absolutely fascinating field. We get to learn about the molecular mechanisms of disease and how scientists are designing drugs to meet these challenges right now. We rotate topics every year, so I am constantly learning new information with my students.

Todd Mack, Spanish: I don’t have one favorite class. I love teaching each of my classes for different reasons. The language classes are great because I love seeing students progress and gain confidence in their ability to speak. I love teaching literature because of the great discussions we are able to have about life. And I love teaching history because I get to share my passion for Spain with the students.

Justin Jackson, English: ENG 310—Old and Middle English Literature. My two favorite eras of Brit Lit. I actually know what I’m talking about in this class. ENG 403—Reading Biblical Narrative. It’s the one class I teach that sticks with students for the rest of their lives. I still get emails from students from almost 20 years ago

Colin Barnes, psychology: I most enjoy seminars that allow me to carefully engage the ideas of a single authorlike William James, Michael Polanyi, or Iain McGilchrist. It feels like questing in uncharted territory. Students and I are collaborators in the journey; they show me things and I show them others. We all walk away from the experience changed. It’s my favorite part of teaching.

Patricia Craig, classics: I have most enjoyed teaching Greek Tragedy. With advanced students who can read Sophocles and Euripides in the original Greek, itis such a treat to delve into nuances of meter and poetic language, and to consider Plato’s and Aristotle’s evaluations of the art form or even of specific plays. I hope to teach this course again here at Hillsdale!

Lee Cole: I don’t “a priori” have a favorite, and the differences in preference are fairly subtle. I have “favorites” largely in retrospect, and that’s more dependent on the students’ commitment and the classroom dynamic than on the subject matter. I will say that the two CSP seminars that I taught with Dr. Gaetano, on The Republic and Robert Spaemann, were a blast: the texts were exceedingly rich, and there was a high degree of mutual engagement. Those seminars were incredibly formative experiences for all involved, professors included.