As an extra credit opportunity, 135 juniors and seniors in Classic Literature classes attended a seminar with professor Andrew Moran on Sept 10.
Moran has been teaching for 27 years and is an Associate Professor of English and the Chair of the English department at the University of Dallas, TX. Professor Patrick Callahan invited him to speak with students and lead a seminar discussion.
“When I was young, I tried to always have perfect seminars,” Moran said. “I’ve learned it’s all about asking the right questions. There are some questions that just hit a wall and there are some that get students thinking. It’s those questions that don’t have any single answer, but that open themselves up for thought.”
A main topic discussed was “The Odyssey,” how it relates to high schoolers today and how failure is a factor for success.
“In high school nobody is perfect,” junior Ngoc Nguyen said. “There’s gonna be bumps and failure in your life. No one is ever going to succeed without failure, and that’s what happened to Odysseus. It helps you know that it’s okay to fail.”
Moran gave his insight on the failures and trials in life and how we are to learn from them and move forward boldly.
“Some people will fail more, some people less,” senior Leo Werner said. “It’s something everyone should realize and be prepared for at least on some level.”
As a teacher of many years, Moran has improved himself to become a more successful leader in seminars after various learning experiences.
“Think about the experience of the student, people forget the students are there,” Moran said. “What might be a real interest to students, what would be the hook? I try to think about that before I teach a book. What will resonate with a student?”
His style of teaching had an impact on many who attended the dialogue, even showing what future college professors can be like.
“It gave me an insight on how professors would teach and their vibe because he didn’t go through a whole slide with bullet points,” Nguyen said. “He yaps at you and you have to take in the information yourself which helps prepare you for college better.”
Students and teachers alike enjoyed the experience, and Moran appreciated the students’ energy.
“I loved how looking around the room there were so many people paying attention,” Moran said. “You obviously have great teachers here, and you’re reading great books, so if you have people who themselves have an enthusiasm, that makes teaching fun.”
