one of the best things about being in college is to learn new and interesting people. Knowing your fellow students is essential to the social life of their college, but what many forget is that student teachers can be as cool as their peers. So we searched the local universities and some of the teachers find most interesting and unique in everything and always look at your life inside and outside the classroom. Note that we could not include every teacher impressive (this guide is endless), so ask around and see who is the cream of the crop in their school.
Music man
Prof UR brings rock and roll “for the class
John Covacho is relaxed, friendly and well spoken. You never imagine that he is the rock star of UR own. Armed with a guitar and a passion for popular music, the music teacher of the Uruguay Round and Chairman of the Department of Music, Eastman School of Music is getting students to appreciate and understand the hit songs in a whole new way.
Covacho is something of a legend on campus. In addition to its load of classes, plays in various local rock bands – 60 of cover band Smooth talkers, Genesis / Peter Gabriel tribute The waiting room, Pink Floyd tribute Heroes of ghosts, and Yes tribute Going for the One from them – and hosts the weekly “Rock Radio” WRUR Show on 88.5 FM every Thursday at 7 pm and Friday at 4 pm In the program, everything plays Covacho from 1950 cuts all the way to the current results and provides a historical context to give listeners a better framework for understanding popular music.
Covacho classes include “The History of Rock ’n’ Roll” and “The Beatles”, and are among the most popular in the UR – had 235 students enrolled in his “History of Popular Music” in the course of a semester. But he says he is surprised at how successful they have been for his four years in the Uruguay Round.
“You know, really scratch my head sometimes,” he says. “The idea that someone wants to take a class that specializes in music, almost all of whom had become famous and has fallen out of fashion before they even born, it’s crazy to me.”
UR recent graduate David LeBlanc said he became music because of the classes he took with kennel. LeBlanc said he was impressed by the wide knowledge of rock music Covacho but more impressed with the way Covacho teaches “with a mixture of strength, passion, and a relaxed attitude,” he says.
“It is not only a scholar to read a book on the subject. He lived the best of rock music and knows what he does,” says LeBlanc. “Many students come into class thinking it will be easy, but running critical thinking about music.”
And that is the ultimate goal of kennel. “It’s a little more than a bait and switch,” he says. “Students show because they think they hear about a band Factoids fun to hear all the time, and end up really learning how to think about music and intellectual criticism.”
Fellow and Professor of UR Talkers smooth band mate Jason Titus says Covacho is always focused on doing things oriented students. “He has a very good management to achieve a balance of what students are interested and what is best for students,” says Tito. “The fact that he is a superior first-class guitarist does not hurt his credibility either.
Covacho says being able to play the guitar in class instantly gives cache to their students – especially the major music companies. “For some reason, do not think anyone musicians who can play an instrument has magical powers,” he says. “Its fun and something that only happens in science classes or writing, so that helps keep things lively.”
Covacho fame extends far beyond the classroom. Before he taught at the Uruguay Round, Covacha was a Fulbright scholar in Vienna, Austria in the late ’80s, and did post-doctoral work in philosophy of Charles Bambach at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has written a textbook titled “What’s that sound?” He uses in his classes, and is one of the most sought after experts in rock music in the country.
“John is a kind of big thing,” says Tito. “In the study of popular music, he is probably one of the leaders in the country, I do not think that students understand. And that’s fine. It is so peaceful and accessible, the students really respond to that and want to learn things he .
But Covacho says he is constantly learning from their students too. He is an expert in all things classic rock, but admits that her students are more familiar with the current music scene what it is. And he is okay with that.
“It’s a perfect exchange – I speak to them in the music of my generation, and keep me informed about what is happening in music today,” he says. “The only problem is, I fear I may run out of space on my iPod soon!”
Returning to his roots
Prof teaches ecology Geneseo travels and experiences with nature
by his third year at the University of Connecticut, Gregg Hartvigsen still was not happy with their main, and was floundering. So I did what any unmet college student would do: he dropped out, sold all his possessions, and at ease in the country.
With only a sleeping bag and backpack, Hartvigsen left the house of his parents, went straight to the highway, and pulled his thumb, the hope of a friendly passerby would take him somewhere new. Over the next two and half months, he traveled some 10,000 miles across country and got the real life experience I was seeking.
“I wanted to live a little more deliberately,” he says. “Being a bum was a very formative experience for we’re forced to learn things about you that there is no situation that can possibly teach.”
It was not until he called the mountains of Boulder, Colo., home she realized she had found her passion: the environment. “I’d like to hike and trees increasingly notice differently on different sides, and I thought, ’Oh. I wonder why they’re doing,’” he says. “To put it simply, I was happy when I was asking things in nature.”
Hartvigsen finally decided to return to school, and graduated with a degree in environmental sciences. A few years later, earned her master’s degree in zoology. Now a professor of biology at SUNY Geneseo, Hartvigsen is bringing real life experience and passion for nature to a new generation of college students.
“What’s really gratifying about teaching for me is to make students anxious about things I never dreamed I would be interested in,” he says. “It’s the best feeling in the world when students tell me they thought that a course in ecology would be boring, only to discover that it can be fun and interesting.”
Hartvigsen teaches a variety of traditional science courses at Geneseo, as “Biological Statistics”, “Analysis of biological data,” and “Principles of Ecology.” But one of its most popular classes is less typical. In his “Six degrees of separation” class, which is designed for freshmen semester, students have Hartvigsen examine the dynamics of social networks. Kevin Bacon and though he has never made a guest appearance in the class, Hartvigsen says his students are excited to research networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and see how your peer group develops in the course of the semester.
“I try to get students thinking about their place in the university and how that changes over time,” he says. “Students seem to like the course because they get to think about themselves, and I like the course because it relates to my research.” Hartvigsen research interests include everything from the creation of online social networks can affect how global cooperation, displacing deer populations of western New York.
Students do not seem to mind the demanding workload of classes Hartvigsen, especially since people tend to take trips outside the classroom for further studies. Traveling had a major impact on him when he was younger he believes that to get their students into the field to discover more about themselves and the world around them. Hartvigsen has taken students to places like the Adirondack Mountains, the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador to study the ecology of the new environments. Next year, plans to lead a small group of students (sorry, only biology major) to Belize for two weeks mini-course.
Although he is a professor now, Hartvigsen still likes to relax by playing tennis and guitar and just enjoy life. “I learned a lot since my college days and I’ve grown as a person since,” he says. “But in the middle, I’m still the same good-natured, fun-loving, freak nature was then.”
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Naz professor examines Facebook from sociological perspective
“Go home and go for Facebook.” Many teachers do not encourage their students to spend hours reading the popular social networking site for homework, but Kim McGann, assistant professor of sociology at Nazareth, said that regularly asks her students to log on to their classes.
“There’s so much you can say about our society and how we function through sites like Facebook, and Internet in general,” she says. “I want them to think critically about what we are doing. It’s good for them to point to instances of his life, but I want to be able to remove it from the context of their lives and apply it to sociology.
In addition to teaching a high-level seminar on relations and technology (which is where the task is presented in Facebook), McGann also teaches many of the basic classes of the Department, such as “Introduction to Sociology” and “Social Problems”, and some more unique classes, like his “Marriage and Relationships” class (which, despite popular misconceptions, is not a marriage or relationship counseling class, she says).
It is only his third year at Naz, but McGann is no stranger to teaching. She has taught at Finger Lakes Community College and SUNY Geneseo, and worked as technical assistance in some courses while earning his master’s degree at Rutgers University and his Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo.
Sociology of the species fell into the lap of McGann, when he began his third year at university and was forced to choose a major. Después de esperar en una línea enorme, largo para inscribirse en las clases (de vuelta en el día en que el registro no era un proceso en línea), le dijeron que todavía no había declarado su mayor. “I had not really thought about it too, and asked me if I had to decide right then,” she says. “I said no, but if I returned, I have to wait in that huge, long back. So I took a sociology class.”
The decision was not as random as that history might suggest, she says. McGann took several sociology classes that sparked her interest in the subject. One task in particular – a reading on abortion and sociological reasons why people feel like they do – helped him decide.
“Not that I changed my mind, but I did understand why a group of women would be strongly for abortion and why others would be strongly against it,” she says. “That was great for me. All that can take a topic that is so emotional and I do understand that other people are coming, without necessarily agreeing with them, is as interesting for me.”
Things in the same direction, like spice McGann holding the items and reading interesting and relevant for students. His classes to read articles with titles like “The Rise of Viagra” and “becoming a marijuana user” (which says it focuses on classical sociology rather than a true guide for instructions). “I never worry that we will not do the readings,” she says. “It is criminal that took his students. I always try to keep them engaged.”
Santamour Amanda, a recent graduate who took several classes Naz with McGann, said he always looked forward to class assignments and McGann’s. “She is not teaching at all. She likes to make the class more interactive,” Santamour says, adding that McGann was one of his favorite teachers.
And it’s easy to see why. McGann is a true performer, always gesturing with his hands and arms to make a point and keep your voice attractive and friendly. “I’m always the first to break a bad joke,” she says. “Being a teacher is like Jay Leno, with a Ph.D.”
Theatrics aside, McGann wants her students to become seriously engaged in an area of study she says is generally negligible mistaken as a subject. “Sociology is like a big buffet of interesting topics,” she says. “You can taste a little of this, a bit of that, and really keep things fresh and interesting.”
Outside the box
Professional cartoonist RIT teaches students to sketch their own comics
Ever been bored and doodle in class? Jason Yungbluth is a teacher who cares. Yungbluth, associate professor at RIT, and full-time comic book artist, teaches introductory and advanced courses in the cartoon, and encourages her students to think outside the box – or a framework, as it is called in the world the comic.
“Of course I want my students to draw well, but it is more important to me that the story is different and unique,” he says. “We certainly appreciate comics that are well drawn, but it’s more fun to read something that is intelligent and witty.
Yungbluth fascination with caricatures began early with the traditional superhero comics like Superman and Batman, and as he grew, so did his collection of comics, and his love for art. He’s in his blood as well: many members of his family (his father, grandfather and uncle to name a few) were all professional artists.
Yungbluth has gained some fame for himself as an artist – some of his cartoons have appeared in Mad Magazine – Yungbluth but says he is more interested in making long-form stories.
“I always wanted to be a newspaper comic strip artist, but at the same time to make a funny gag strip. I wanted to include some more crude humor and wanted to do a band that I was happy and proud of the art,” he says. “Newspapers will not let me do that.”
So he decided to do his own thing and publish your own stuff. Some of its most popular comics including “Deep Fried,” an off color comics that parody and mockery of anything and everything geek, and “Weapon Brown,” a look into the world of post-apocalyptic Charlie Brown.
Make the two projects, he says, allows a balance between making drawings and sketches with some rude humor and a superhero-like strip action with a more detailed history and constructed.
Yungbluth said that with the way the publishing market is shifting to the Web, Web Comics waiting (including your lucky), to prosper in the future. He says that unlike newspapers, websites are more consumer oriented and can go with a more crude humor.
And the crude humor is something that students do not mind, he says. “I’m not saying everyone has to make jokes about sex, drugs and rock and roll, ’” said Yungbluth. “But it is something that I would object to. I want my students to do the kind of mood they want to do, but I also want to be smart about it and understand the play.” As for why some lines of work and other non drilling .
Yungbluth says being a teacher was not something he had in mind, and teaching work at RIT was spontaneous. A friend was teaching classes of caricature, but when he moved, RIT Yungbluth called and asked him to begin the following day. “Teaching is something that somehow fell into my hands,” he says. “I love, however. Seeing students succeed and just get it. When the little light bulb finally goes on his mind and is excited about what they are doing, that’s what I like about this job.”
Although not in their plans, Yungbluth said that it intends to continue teaching for a time, provided they do not stifle their creativity as a cartoonist. And although certainly not the world’s most famous cartoonist, who is still trying to get their best work.
“I strive to be the person making the funniest, the most powerful, yet remains the most true and genuine comics can do,” he says. “While I can do that, fame, money, not everything that does not matter.”