We are reading Lawrence Stern's Tristram Shandy in our autobiography course this week and next. One of the great discussions in the text is the importance and power of names. Tristram's father is convinced that the name given a child stamps their character so as to shape their destiny. A strong name can be most fortuitous while a weak name is certain to lead to failure if not outright disaster.
Name's are not always of our choosing or sometimes of our liking but they are integral to our identity. I was given three names at birth and grew to the age of 16 understanding my name to be James William Charles Butler. However, upon acquiring a copy of my birth certificate I discovered that my name as registered was Charles William James Butler.
Now this may seem like a trivial affair particularly in that I really only went by Jimmy until I was about 13 and then managed to dispense with the last two characters. To a teenage still struggling with puberty and sudden female protrusions appearing on young friends any sliver of cool was critical.
Once I left home I dropped William and went with James C. Butler. That gave me the phonetically balance set of initials - JCB. Of course that could be translated two ways: "Butler, James C. Butler." or the less suave: "Jesus Christ Butler!"
Now that I am in the process of reconstructing my personal identity I have chose to recover an really important part of my past, my full name. So these days I am trying to get back to be C. W. James Butler.
So why all the big deal you might ask? Well, it happens that I am reflecting on this because of a brand new addition to my extended family. My niece Andrea and her husband Gerardo are parents to a boy, born at 9 pounds. My immediate family members have been talking about "the boy" via email so I asked "What is his name?"
And until I hear it I, [like Tristram Shandy's father], will be waiting with baited breath.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Teaching...
This semester I am enrolled in a Graduate Program in Teaching program. Part of the course requirement is that I must deliver 3 lectures to an undergraduate class that I am shadowing. After being bumped by the weather from my original slot I was all keyed up to finally deliver my inaugural lecture.
The course I am shadowing is Philosophy 1600 - Human Nature. My supervisor who actually teaches the course assigned me the introduction of Christian ideas of human nature starting with Augustine of Hippo and the Thomas Aquinas. Then as soon as I had my lecture prepared, he emailed me to let me know the topic had to be changed. He had not made it all the way through the material on Aristotle so now he wanted me to lecture on Aristotle's Ethics.
After an initial silent 'oh no!' I said sure I can do that. So I dug out my copy of Ethics and brushed up on it. I also wisely read the assigned readings from the course texts. I was all ready to lecture but an errant winter storm bumped me out of my Wednesday slot. My supervisor suggested I teach on Friday which was fine except the class starts at noon which is fifteen minutes before my GPT class ends.
No matter the rush, I slipped away early and headed off to my academic debut. I arrived just in time and moved up to the lectern. It was at this moment that I realized that in my rush to get to the class I had left my lecture notes behind. Going back for them was not an option.
So after a brutal 10 second panic I sucked it up and started my lecture. I was not exactly graceful but I was reasonably coherent and managed to cover all of the really essential points. The judicious use of several interactive exercises to bring the students into the discussion helped eat up chunks of the 50 minute session.
Once almost everyone had left I confessed to my supervisor that I had left my notes behind and that I had winged it. He looked down at his copious notes and then exclaimed "You winged it? Then that was excellent!"
At this point I could feel just how wet my tee-shirt was. I am sure I must have burned several hundred calories. But the satisfaction I felt told me that teaching is what I love.
The course I am shadowing is Philosophy 1600 - Human Nature. My supervisor who actually teaches the course assigned me the introduction of Christian ideas of human nature starting with Augustine of Hippo and the Thomas Aquinas. Then as soon as I had my lecture prepared, he emailed me to let me know the topic had to be changed. He had not made it all the way through the material on Aristotle so now he wanted me to lecture on Aristotle's Ethics.
After an initial silent 'oh no!' I said sure I can do that. So I dug out my copy of Ethics and brushed up on it. I also wisely read the assigned readings from the course texts. I was all ready to lecture but an errant winter storm bumped me out of my Wednesday slot. My supervisor suggested I teach on Friday which was fine except the class starts at noon which is fifteen minutes before my GPT class ends.
No matter the rush, I slipped away early and headed off to my academic debut. I arrived just in time and moved up to the lectern. It was at this moment that I realized that in my rush to get to the class I had left my lecture notes behind. Going back for them was not an option.
So after a brutal 10 second panic I sucked it up and started my lecture. I was not exactly graceful but I was reasonably coherent and managed to cover all of the really essential points. The judicious use of several interactive exercises to bring the students into the discussion helped eat up chunks of the 50 minute session.
Once almost everyone had left I confessed to my supervisor that I had left my notes behind and that I had winged it. He looked down at his copious notes and then exclaimed "You winged it? Then that was excellent!"
At this point I could feel just how wet my tee-shirt was. I am sure I must have burned several hundred calories. But the satisfaction I felt told me that teaching is what I love.
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