I gush about them alot, but that’s only because they kick so much butt.
Example: back in the Fall Dr. Jolley did a seminar on Early American philosophy. Just for fun. We met once a week and discussed Emerson and Thoreau. We were going to do Melville’s Moby Dick during the Spring, but they had to interview a big stack of job candidates, so we had to drop it.
During the Spring it came up somehow that Dr. Jolley often teaches a course titled Philosophy of Film, based on Stanley Cavell’s Pursuits of Happiness. I’ve read just enough Cavell to find him really intriguing, so I asked if he’d be teaching it this summer. He wasn’t sure.
After the summer term started, with no Phil of Film on the schedule, I emailed him asking about it. He emailed me back saying, “Well, if you can find some people who want to take the class, I’ll teach it.”
So, here we are, scheduled to meet Friday to watch the first film in the series. It’s not an official class or anything, but it’s totally awesome that Dr. Jolley is willing to spend the time to read and watch and discuss with us. I guess that in my more lucid moments thinking about my future plans, I want to be like him in many ways. I want to be that smart professor who loves to learn and teach, the guy who goes out of his way to teach because it’s fun dang it.
We’ll see what happens.
Thomas