DVDS, CDs and a Web site bring the professors' courses to a broader audience.

by James Doyle
Associate Professor of Anthropology Ted Fischer believes academic instruction should extend beyond the Vanderbilt campus.

“We are called to be public intellectuals,” he said. “We must teach not only our captive audiences in the classroom but reach out to the broader public – and this is harder.”

Joining three other Vanderbilt professors, Fischer pursued his goal of speaking to a larger audience by producing lectures for audio CD and DVD through the Teaching Company. Founded in 1990, the Teaching Company offers 175 courses for “ lifelong learners.” The courses are targeted toward affluent professionals who would like to continue taking college classes but aren’t able to take time off to do so.

Professors are nominated for inclusion in the program based on teaching awards, published evaluations, newspaper articles and other references. The selection process is rigorous, weeding out nine of every 10 nominees. Then a representative sits in on a class before the professor is invited to present his or her lectures on camera at the company’s studios in Virginia.

Amy-Jill Levine, the Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies and director of the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality, was pleased to be a part of the Teaching Company’s academic outreach. Along with “Introduction to the Old Testament,” she also has taught “Great Figures of the Old Testament” and “Great Figures of the New Testament” for the Teaching Company.

“Although my first priority is teaching my divinity students, I liked the idea of correcting public misinformation, such as incorrect impressions about Judaism and Roman Catholicism,” said Levine. “By presenting a more balanced view of the Bible, I was able to provide the questions and tools so that the learners could make up their own minds.”

Levine wanted to contribute to public conversation by introducing more controversial issues such as homosexuality and family values from a Biblical perspective, as well as the relationship between historical investigation and religious faith.

Fischer’s Teaching Company course, “Peoples and Cultures of the World,” allows him to pique students’ interest in real world applications of cross-cultural, exotic customs. He also asks his audience to examine social construction in the U.S. pertaining to class, race and political makeup.

“In some of my lectures I present neo-Marxist critiques of U.S. society – not what the audience is going to be most receptive to,” Fischer said. He hopes these intellectual challenges will help learners to become more receptive and respectful of diversity.

Marshall Eakin, professor of history, found his own horizons expanded during the production of his course on the colonial Americas. Though Eakin is passionately interested in Brazilian history, he took a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to include not only Brazil, but all of the former European colonies.

“Teaching this course allowed for greater personal awareness by learning to compare the Portuguese, the Spanish and the British, and it provided me with scholarly growth – like writing a book,” he said.

Eakin sites the filming of his lectures as challenging work. “When you’re in a classroom, you’re feeding off people’s reactions. When you’re in a studio, you are lecturing to an anonymous audience.”

Shai Cherry, assistant professor of religious studies, was eager to further his involvement in community education on a national scale after being chosen to participate in the Teaching Company. His course on Judaism aims to give learners an understanding that modern Judaism has little to do with the Hebrew Bible.

“Judaism is an evolving civilization, and I wanted to examine that evolution in the religious sphere,” he said. “It’s hard to answer questions about what Jews believe on any given issue. I want to examine the multiplicity of answers within the faith community.”
All four professors agreed that the experience was extremely rewarding.

“I have received correspondence from people correcting and challenging me, but also well over 200 letters expressing appreciation,” Levine said.

The fan mail is a sure indication of the far-reaching nature of the video course instruction. “I even had a letter from a guy in a California prison who really liked my comparative approach to American colonialism,” said Eakin.

Fischer added, “It’s nice to be able to make an impact on peoples’ lives outside of the classroom.”

Posted 10/11/2004