I only took one class, Introduction to Sociology, with Marc Steinberg more than 20 years ago. I wasn’t a sociology major/minor, and he wasn’t my advisor. So we didn’t stay in touch beyond that class. I doubt he would have remembered who I was. But now, as a professor myself, whenever I think about pedagogy to come up with ways to improve my teaching, he continues to inspire. After all these years, he still sets the bar for what I aspire to do for my students. (I fall far short.) I remember wondering how he managed to find the energy to care so much about us, even then. And now that I know how hard it is to be a good teacher, I am even more appreciative.
Here are just a few of the things that have been seared into my memory and that I wish I could replicate:
- He had every one of us schedule meetings with him individually in office hours in the first week or two of the semester just so he could get to know us.
- He handed out placards to each of us that said something like “stop” or “I have something I want to say.” I forgot the exact wording. We were supposed to raise the placards if we ever had something to say but were too timid to speak. I never used it, and to my knowledge no one else did either. Still, I appreciated how he was always mindful of those of us who tended to be quiet in class.
- He had a system where he was able to grade all of our papers with our names redacted. (This was before LMS’s could do this automatically for graders.) He used this system so as to be as fair as possible and minimize his own bias.
- He used to play music as we filed into class. In particular, I recall him playing Sleater Kinney song and wearing a Sleater Kinney t-shirt. To this day, I don’t like going to my classroom early. I feel so shy and awkward hanging out or chatting with students before class starts. But he made it seem like the most effortless thing to do, as if he couldn’t wait to get class started.
- I asked him once for a letter of recommendation. And even though I’d only taken one class with him and I didn’t talk much, he handed me the thickest envelope ever and it made me wonder how he could possibly come up with so much to say about me. (I myself stick to 1-2 page letters for my own undergrads.)
Thank you, Marc.