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Media Credit: Jackie Ryan President Bob Weisbuch reviews the course syllabus with his first class at Drew, in which he will focus on the stormy relationship between 19th century British and American writers [Click to enlarge]

University President Bob Weisbuch wowed stu-dents attending their English seminar yesterday when he returned to the classroom as a professor for the first time in 12 years.

Enthusiastically connecting 19th-century British and American literature through the literary dialogue of its authors, Weisbuch introduced the course to the approval of excited and intrigued students.

He began the semester with a comfortable and humorous tone, according to junior Lisa Agiewich. �Pres. Bob was delightfully laid back the first day of class, he had it all,� she said. �He made us laugh, he made us think, we had a 5-minute discussion about The Family Stone and we decided that seeing the thumb in the Methodist archives [where the class was held] was anti-climatic,� she said.

Junior Andrea Hughes appreciated Weisbuch�s �laid back and friendly� attitude. He used �themes and concepts similar [to other professors in the department], but his tone was different. It was like part of a lecture series,� she said. �It didn�t sound like other lectures � he was talking with us,� she added.

According to Weisbuch, the course incorporates two literary traditions � British and American � and examines the sudden rise and creation of great American writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville and Walt Whitman.

Weisbuch said the course demonstrates how authors find inspiration by building on other literary traditions. �Literary history is not [only] who wrote what and when, but rather what ought to be written and how,� he said.

Weisbuch said he was free to choose a literature topic to teach. �[I chose the topic] because I wrote a book, Atlantic Double-Cross, about how Americans competed with or mocked the British and how American literature arose, but I don�t plan to teach the book,� he explained.

The course will be �give-and-take � completely conversation after an initial introduction � I expect the students to take over completely,� Weisbuch said.

According to Weisbuch, he plans to analyze works ranging from Jane Austen�s Pride and Prejudice to Charles Dickens� Bleak House. �I wanted to choose texts that I love and worked with at the University of Michigan,� he said.

According to Weisbuch, he has not taught in 12 years, besides giving a few guest lectures. �It�s not that dramatic � I�m not nervous, I just can�t wait to meet the students,� he said.

Students are excited about the course and the experience. �I signed up because I read a piece of what [Weisbuch] wrote about Emily Dickinson,� junior Erin Black said. �I think he has good things to say, and it�s the time period I am interested in,� she said, adding that the course should be fun, and she hopes to read a lot of fiction and poetry.

�I expect a pretty thorough comparison of British and American literature since I love the 19th century, especially British authors,� Senior Frank Ruiz said. According to Ruiz, the first class was very �informative, relaxed, and nice � it�s like taking a class with any other professor.�

�I hope [the workload is] rigorous, but normative,� Weisbuch said. �I want my students to get their own ability to put literary history together and become better readers, writers, and citizens of the U.S.�

Weisbuch hopes to teach other literature courses as often as possible and maybe a mini course on education policy, if students show interest. They may show interest if this first class taught by Weisbuch continues positively. As Agiewich said, �It is definitley up there with the best first classes at Drew.�

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