About those lectures: why so serious?

By: Scott Dennis

Posted: 5/16/08

You're having a jolly holiday, roving 'cross campus under the smiling sun, when you remember your next class is a history lecture (or psychology, if you'd like).

Why does this thought cast a gloomy cloud in your psyche? Unless you're unhealthily obsessed with either subject, it's probably because such lectures are typically so boring they'd make Ben Stein cry with envy. It's not really the fault of the lecturer - such subjects are fairly dull by their very nature.

It was Mark Twain who said, "History doesn't repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes." And how great would it be if history lectures actually did rhyme? Therein lies problem with college lectures (and every classroom subject since the third grade): they take themselves far too seriously.

Take for example history and psychology. One focuses on obscure thoughts, interpersonal relationships and the nutty things people do.

When a student enters a psych classroom, they are bombarded by such nonsense words as "existential," "psychometrics" and "reason."

To that I would quote Lewis Carroll and say, "Speak English! I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and I don't believe you do either!"

History students must likewise endure sermons about Agricola and Julius Caesar. (Spoiler: Caesar dies.)

The major issue with these and other subjects is that the curriculum promotes rote memorization as opposed to a real understanding of the topic.

As Alec Bourne said, "It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated." This sort of balderdash, useful in elementary learning, makes lecture classes unnecessarily dreary - which leads me to the point of this column. (Yes, I do have a one.)

Subject matter explained with the utmost seriousness, as though each date and fact were a clue about the imminent theft of a parade float, could be described much better if lecturers brought more levity to the floor.

Gail Godwin had it right when she said, "Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater."

Comparing a movie and a lecture of the same length, you'd likely find that people remember what transpired in the movie more vividly than they'd recall what was taught in the lecture. Even if the film featured a mundane subject and story (think "Napoleon Dynamite"), the audience still comes out able to quote individual lines of dialogue.

Lectures are typically presented with such seriousness that it's difficult for the audience to become engaged. The remedy for this is simple: Use something students care about (humor) to make them remember what is being taught.

Say a professor explains, while pointing at a slide of "In the Loge," that this work was painted by Mary Cassatt in 1878 in Impressionist style.

When you're looking at 30 Impressionist paintings every class, though, this information is registered as being just another painting you'll forget about in an hour. But if the teacher points out the guy creepily watching us from the background, or perhaps mentions that you can tell this is Impressionism because the background characters all have disturbingly blank faces, then that at least would give us grounds to recall this painting. Sure it may not be very academic, but it connects with the audience in a way they'll remember.

Master storyteller and educator Walt Disney said, "I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained."

People tend to recall information better if they emotionally connect with it at some point. Making people laugh at something often ensures that they will carry the memory of that incident around for some time. How often have you seen something funny on YouTube and then been able to remember at least the majority of it a week (or more) later?

Art history may be boring, but if the lecture includes a comparison between "The Cyclist" and the time Uncle Rico knocked Napoleon off his bike with a slab of steak, then you can bet your bowstaff you'll remember the painting (and the reference) come finals week.

When people take anything too seriously, it becomes wearisome for everyone involved. There are times to be serious, such as when wrestling bears or participating in eating contests.

Writing columns is serious business, too. If it weren't, writers would do childish things like post shout-outs to that cat I saw by the parking structure last week.

Complete seriousness is an obstacle to understanding, and, as Oscar Wilde said, "It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously."

Scott Dennis is a freshman in fine arts. The opinions expressed in his column do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Barometer staff. Dennis can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.