Discussions
During Welcome Week this fall Campbell Hall was alive with the voices of new students and faculty members getting a head start on the semester. They came together in small groups to discuss Lincoln at Gettysburg, by Garry Wills. The faculty members (listed below) who led these discussions were impressed with the students' level of preparedness and engagement: the students had clearly read the book very carefully and had come to Cal ready to express and support their ideas, and to learn from one another's perspectives. One faculty member commented that it was the most fun he had had in a classroom in years.
The students enjoyed the experience as well, as these representative comments clearly demonstrate:
"It was nice to feel somehow attached to campus before school started. Before my sessions I sort of felt like I was just floating about. Also it was nice to get a feel for the level that other students are on academically and intellectually before being thrown into classes."
"The most valuable part of the session was that it gave incoming students an opportunity to discuss an influential book in a small, informal, and intimate setting with a professor they may have in the fall semester."
"I attended quite a few of the sessions as I found them to be very interesting--especially since they consisted of people who attended voluntarily. I thought that the professors and intimate group size was what made the discussions especially good, and I was able to delve into a deeper understanding after analyzing different contexts with various groups."
"I truly loved the discussion, it was a wonderful introduction to Cal. I felt that our Professor presented the new students the amazing combination of Brilliance with Compassion that Berkeley is known for . . . The professor expressed not only his thoughts beautifully, but summarized our thoughts into coherent arguments, showing us how to not only think and speak critically, but to listen with the same attention to detail. This was my first lesson at Berkeley and one that keeps rolling around in my head. I wish I had more time, as I would have loved to attend as many of these sessions as possible. Great idea to send the book in the mail, I will treasure it as my first Cal Book."
"I thought being able to have the professor talk one on one with us and remember our names was pretty awesome."
Fall 2007 Discussion Session Leaders
Richard Abrams - History
Mary Berry - History
Stephen Best - English
Terri Bimes - Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science
Janet Broughton - Philosophy (and L&S Dean of Arts and Humanities)
Marianne Constable - Rhetoric
Robin Einhorn - History
Victoria Frede - History
Kathleen Frydl - History
Jon Gjerde - History (and L&S Dean of Social Sciences)
David Henkin - History
Thomas Laqueur - History
Christina Maslach - Psychology (and Vice Provost of Undergraduate
Education and Interim Dean of the Undergraduate Division, L&S)
Daniel Melia - Rhetoric
Geoff Owen - Molecular and Cell Biology and Neuroscience (and L&S
Dean of Biological Sciences)
Mark Richards - Earth & Planetary Science (and L&S Executive Dean and
L&S Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences)
Eric Schickler -Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science
Charles Schwartz - Physics
John Shoptaw - English
