[AHUM V3400] Colloquium on Major Middle Eastern and East Asian Texts

Wm. Theodore de Bary (or "Warm Teddy" to his friends) is an experience worth having. He's from the old Van Doren school of humanities education, and you know it the second you walk in the door. The goal of the course is to develop some sort of human connection with the texts that is not just a mapping of Western culture onto texts from the four traditions represented in the course, but some sort of meeting based on an understanding of cultural differences. De Bary, as has been noted time and time again, allows little dissent in his class. When he asks a question, he most certainly has an answer in mind. However, two things need to be added to the picture. First, if you stick to your guns and argue the point with him, he will not cut you off--he'll just demand that you have something intelligent to say. Because he knows more about the text than you do, it can be difficult to argue with him, but it's an educational experience. Second, even if you don't plan on arguing a lot in class, there is something to be said for learning, over the course of two semesters, how to read a text the way de Bary does. De Bary is a phenomenal reader, so if you come out of the class with the ability to get half of what he gets from the texts, then this will be already your best college course. His method may be a bit outdated, but its still worth learning.

You may want to sign up for a class with de Bary just because of the fact that he is nearing 90 and is still going strong. He teaches his classes for free, and loves his job. He is also an expert in the field, and his name is found in almost every book in the East Asian library. And of course, you can do NO work and easily come out with an A- in this 4 credit, once a week, class. de Bary is also fun to laugh at on occasion--he makes funny faces and is usually very abrasive towards the TA. (especially Landesman). Another nice perk is the banquet that is given at the end of the semester in which you get to meet his lovely secretary who is also about 95 years old. BUT, and this is a big but, his class was by far the most boring experience of my college career. His raspy voice puts you to sleep and makes you want to shoot yourself in the foot. Sometimes I wanted to jump out of the glass window in order break the lapse of boredom. Also, since I did none of the reading, there was some cramming during finals week.

De Bary's knowledge with Asian philosophy and literature is amazing -- most of the texts were translated or edited by him. He loves teaching -- though he's officially "retired," he somwhow teaches more than double the normal courseload for a professor. Unfortunately, his voice drags on and the two hour seminars feel longer and longer. The reading are interesting and you don't have to do all of them, especially if you take the year long course (the exam is in the spring and doesn't include anything from the fall).