KWF in the Classroom
Of the University of Michigan’s 36,000 students, only Knight- Wallace Fellows are free to sit in on any courses, in any school, department or program, without regard for academic standing or prerequisites. It is a huge and cherished privilege as old as the program. Here, ’07 Fellows share their favorite courses and faculty— and professors talk about the value-add of Fellows in the classroom.
Fellows
Anthony Brooks: “Be sure to take any class taught by Ralph Williams. He is part of a disappearing breed on college campuses: a passionate and brilliant teacher who reveres the art of teaching, and who can breathe life into any subject. I took his courses on Shakespeare’s major plays and Primo Levi.”
Yonette Joseph: “Juan Cole’s droll dissection of how the Middle East became the mess it is today was the most valuable course I took. Through films, lectures and dry commentary he adroitly laid out the history of The United States and Middle Eastern Wars. Even if you think you know the diff erence between a Shiite and a Sunni and a Kurd, you’ll be enlightened, alarmed, surprised.”
Kelly Zito: “Fabric Arts in the art and architecture school, taught by Sherri Smith and Jill Ault, was a revelation. We learned to sew, weave, and dye fabric using shibori methods, such as wood blocks, poles and stitching. The outcomes were oft en unexpected, but beautiful, and I tapped into a whole different and unused part of my brain.”
Jim MacMillan: “I was knocked out by John Whittier-Ferguson, with whom I am taking Modern War and Modern Memory. He’s brilliantly analytical and remarkably quick-witted, with every imaginable relevant reference on the tip of his tongue. Time fl ies when we meet and students groan when they learn time has run out.”
Linda Robertson: “Matthew Countryman entranced his students in U.S. Politics and Culture in the 1960s, opened each class with recordings from Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez and sprinkled his lectures on this turbulent era with videos about the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, Vietnam and Students for a Democratic Society, which was founded in Ann Arbor.”
Jason Beaubien: “Manishita Dass’ course, Indian Cinema—Bollywood and Beyond, looks at post-colonial India through the lens of commercial Hindi film. Th e films explore the dreams and tribulations of an emerging nation, the tragic division of India into India and Pakistan and frustration with Nehru’s post-independence government. If you’re looking for a unique way to dive into Indian society, Bollywood is the answer.”
Gady Epstein: “In his class on the roots of terrorism, Scott Atran draws heavily on anthropology, evolutionary biology and political science, in addition to his own extensive survey research in the Middle East and South Asia. He invariably made his students think in new ways about terrorism- related issues, and terrorists themselves.”
Nilay Örnek: “My favorite is screenwriting teacher Terry Lawson. He’s tough, his class materials are good and he always listens and gives good advice. He works so hard, like a student!”
Amy Resnick: “I really enjoyed Jenna Bednar’s Politics of Federalism. I recommend it for anyone interested in public policy and constitutional systems. She approached the subject matter of the forces that drive federal governmental systems, made it relevant to current events and across a variety of cultures.”
Zack McMillin: “In History of American Suburbia, Matt Lassiter somehow manages to mix literary masterpieces past with literary discoveries present, film classics old and fi lm classics new, and ground it all in pathbreaking scholarship.”
Taos Turner: “Don Regan, Rhodes Scholar and professor of philosophy and law, teaches a course called What Makes A Good Life? at the law school. It is basically a great books class, but one with an opportunity to discuss the weekly reading in stimulating sessions with bright and motivated law school students.”
Dong-Seok Kim: “If you are interested in sports, you can fi nd some answers to your long held basic questions in Andrei Markovits’ Sports as Culture in Advanced Industrial Democracies. The secret of the worldwide popularity of soccer and its failure in America, the rise and fall of baseball as the American national pastime thrilled the whole semester.”
Steve Fennessy: “In the first six weeks of Sarah-Jane Gwillim’s Acting 101, we sashayed down a catwalk, delivered a two-minute monologue, pretended we were elephants, practiced improv, memorized a Gilbert and Sullivan tongue-twister, and learned what it takes to step into someone else’s skin. It’s great exposure to U-M’s theater program, one of the best in the nation.”
Challen Stephens: “James White’s law school practicum on negotiation revealed the ethical acculturation and tactical instruction of future lawyers. As a community journalist, continually negotiating for public records and access, it’s been invaluable to see the practice from another perspective.”
Richard Lister: “Rudi Lindner is the fearless professor who leads us through the history course, Discovering the Universe. He does it with bucketfuls of self-deprecating wit, a truly ‘professorial’ wardrobe, and a brain the size of a planet. After every class, I feel a little cleverer and a lot, lot smaller.”
Professors
Carl Simon
Carl Simon, Director, Center for the Study of Complex Systems: “The Fellows excel at communicating ideas to the general public, something few university researchers care about doing and even fewer do well.”
Matt Lassiter, Associate Professor of History: “It’s been a wonderful experience having Knight-Wallace Fellows take my courses, asking questions in the classroom, chatting over lunch afterward, discussing a wide range of issues in politics and public policy. At the same time, I have to worry a little more than usual that I won’t get away with any inadvertent misstatements of fact or even questionable interpretations, given that three or four veteran journalists are in the room taking notes. But it all pays off in the end, because the meals at Wallace House are simply the best in Ann Arbor.”
Karen Wixson
Karen Wixson, Professor of Education: “The Fellows bring a valuable perspective to our preparation of future leaders in education. Their perspective would be missing completely without their involvement in School of Education programs and activities.”
Karen Wixson
Lester Monts, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Music and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs: “The broad diversity of perspectives represented by the Fellows is an excellent match with the commitment to diversity at U-M. Our faculty and students benefit immensely from the Fellows’ wealth of experiences as professional journalists working at some the world’s leading media outlets.”
Karen Wixson
James Jackson, Director, Institute for Social Research: “I have found the opportunity to interact with the Fellows a remarkable experience. They are very bright, highly motivated, passionate, and interested in all knowing both broadly and in-depth. The Fellows that I have had the opportunity to mentor over the years have been intellectually challenging and the interactions extremely satisfying.”
Karen Wixson
Ralph Williams, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of English: “The Knight-Wallace Fellows bring to me and my students themselves, burnished—and sometimes a little battered— by experience in the wide world, but still open, and honest, and endlessly curious. They are always a little angry at the way things are, and determined that if the best isn’t immediately available, the better surely is—and they’re here to find ways to understand and achieve it.”
Nicholas Delbanco, Robert Frost Distinguished University Professor of English Language and Literature: “In my prose fiction workshop this semester, I have a quartet of Fellows—and, as always, they are a welcome addition; we’re the better for the spice they add (Block that Metaphor!) to the creative stew.”
Karen Wixson
Rebecca J. Scott, Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Law: “For a historian of Latin America, it is a particular treat to have a working journalist in the classroom as we discuss events in the region. The Fellows tend to urge the faculty forward toward immediacy and relevance; the faculty in turn pull back for the long view. It’s a very stimulating dialectic.”
Bobbi Low, Professor of Natural Resources: “The Knight-Wallace Fellows are a delight, both in class, and as colleagues who work in the ‘real’ world: they are smart, thoughtful, informed-and fun! I’ve learned form them, and made great friends.”
Jim Burnstein, Lecturer IV in Screen Arts and Culture: “The Fellows bring an adult perspective to our screenwriting classes and a keen eye for storytelling. Their desire to learn is contagious.”
Andrei S. Markovits, Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies: “K-W Fellows have attended many of my classes. They are not only a great addition to my intellectual horizon, but—via their interaction with students—they also enhance the students’ academic experience at Michigan.”
Donald Regan, William W. Bishop Jr. Collegiate Professor of Law and Philosophy: “I have had two of the Fellows (in different years) as auditors in my Law School seminar What Makes a Good Life? and What Should Government Do About It? In both cases their greater experience and maturity than the average law student have made them very valuable participants. Send me more.”
