Class Not Dismissed: Reflections on Undergraduate Education and Teaching the Liberal Arts

by Anthony Aveni

In A Life in Learning, award-winning professor Anthony Aveni tells the personal story of his six decades in college classrooms and some of the 10,000 students who have filled them. Through anecdotes of his own triumphs and tribulations--some amusing, others heartrending--Aveni reveals his teaching story and thoughts on the future of higher education.

Although in recent years the lecture has come under fire as a pedagogical method, Aveni ardently defends lecturing to students. He shares his secrets on crafting an engaging lecture and creating productive dialogue in class discussions. He lays out his rules on classroom discipline and tells how he promotes the lost art of listening. He is a passionate proponent of the liberal arts and core course requirements as well as a believer in sound teaching promoted by active scholarship.

Aveni is known to his students as a consummate storyteller. In A Life in Learning he shares real stories about everyday college life that shed light on serious educational issues. The result is a humorous, reflective, inviting, and powerful inquiry into higher education that will be of interest to anyone invested in the current and future state of college and university education.

288 pages, ebook

First published September 15, 2014

About the author

Anthony Aveni is Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy, Anthropology, and Native American Studies Emeritus at Colgate University. He helped to develop the fields of archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy.

Reviews

[Selim Tlili · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are few things more satisfying than reading about someone committed to doing excellent work.

As a teacher I value what Aveni has to offer me. His suggestions can improve my teaching practice but more importantly my teaching mindset.

I highly recommend this to anyone involved in education.