Back to the ivy-covered halls

Fall classes have started. This semester I am teaching a couple of World History 1, as always, History of Ancient Greece, and Roman Law. I find that classes take a few weeks to settle in and find their personality, so it’s hard to judge from just the first day’s experience, but I have a good feeling about all of my classes so far.

The university remains, shall we say, pragmatically challenged. In the three different classrooms I was teaching in, each of the clocks was set to a different time. One whiteboard came equipped with four erasers and no markers. One of my classes had its room changed at the last minute, so the first five minutes of class time were taken up with just making sure that everyone was in the right room. But I can live with those things because it’s the people who make a difference, and the people– both my fellow faculty and staff and my students– are wonderful.

We have a job search going on this year to hire a new faculty member in middle eastern and Islamic history, something we’ve been lacking for several years. I’ve volunteered to be on the search committee, which will be my first time. We’ve had three job searches during my time in the department, so I’ve seen plenty of the process, but I’ve never been a part of the team before. It’s looking like a very interesting year.