May 24, 2010 • THE GAZETTE
Certainly my most memorable day in the classroom took place at Peabody in March of 2005, in the middle of a graduate seminar I taught on Robert Schumann. The night before the particular class period in which I was to discuss his last months, I was up late translating Clara Schumann’s diaries. After 20 years of marriage, Robert began to have psychotic visions, tried to commit suicide and eventually had to be housed in an asylum, where Clara visited him regularly. Maybe it was just because I was so tired, but during the lecture I could barely pull myself together. I couldn’t even look at the class while I was reading the diary excerpts for fear that I would start crying uncontrollably. At the end, in some desperation, I just put on a recording of Schumann’s Requiem and the students filed out in silence. I had never taught a class like that before, and have never since.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Mary Hendricks, adjunct faculty in early education Course being recognized: Early Childhood: Instructional Program Planning and Methods
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s a child, I remember visiting my aunt and uncle and being impressed by how they cared for my cousin. Although severely disabled, she was surrounded with love and participated in all family activities. However, the local public school was not open to her because of her disability. I thought this was very unfair, and it led me, as a teenager, to decide on a career in special education. I eventually earned a master’s degree at Johns Hopkins and have spent the past 32 years in the profession. I credit my parents for getting me started on this career path. They encouraged me to follow my passion. My mother helped me to set goals, and my father taught me that whatever I do in life to work hard and do it well. In 2003, I became an adjunct faculty member in the School of Education. This has been an exciting experience for me as I can share my passion and experience as a practitioner to help a new generation of special educators. I know that many policy-makers never make it into the classroom, and here at Johns Hopkins I have the opportunity to discuss policy and how that translates into real-life application. My teaching experience has helped me grow as a professional. I have learned the importance of being flexible. Sometimes I’ll go into a class thinking I’m totally prepared, and there will be a question that will take the class in a completely different direction. My students challenge me to stay ahead of them and to keep current with the literature. My most memorable classroom moment came when I asked for technical help for a PowerPoint presentation. The computer wasn’t working properly, and this was the last class before finals. A tech person made the repair and as he was leaving, I asked what caused the problem. I couldn’t hear his answer and asked him to repeat it. Trying not to embarrass me, he said the computer needed to be plugged in.
My classes, which are made up of public safety personnel from across the state, are different from other college classes that I have taught because of the depth of the knowledge of the students, the range of their experiences, and they never run out of moral dilemmas to discuss. It has been as much of a learning experience for me as, I hope, my students. Some of the examples that come up in class are quite compelling and lead to provocative discussions, such as the situation experienced by a young police officer while on duty in western Maryland. The officer, whose grandfather was killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, was ordered to provide security at a rally for the group. Initially, the officer put his badge and gun down and refused the assignment. After agonizing over the decision and discussing it with his supervisors, he took back the badge and gun and completed the assignment.
I first met my favorite teacher, Kingsley Price, when I was in undergraduate school and responded to an ad to be a reader for a blind professor. This professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins was an amazing man. I would spend hours reading books and articles to him, and he would recall specific quotes on specific pages. We became great friends, and our relationship lasted 40 years. Kingsley died last year at age 91. He was one of the most patient and thorough persons I have ever known, never angry and always on point. He taught me many life lessons.
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Robert Siliciano, professor of medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Course recognized: Principles of Immunology
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think a love of teaching must run in my family. Coincidentally or not, my younger brother, Paul, a biochemistry professor at the University of Minnesota, also received a university teaching award. I think we both owe a lot to our late mother, Ann, who was a dedicated anatomy and physiology professor at Elmira College in upstate New York, where we were raised. We used to always have as a guest at the kitchen table a nursing student whom our mother would be tutoring. She instilled in both of us from a very early age a love for the material and the need to find a clear way to express complex concepts. I am always impressed by my students’ curiosity and brilliance. You see how smart these students are, and you think that there is no problem in this world that is too big to be solved, even AIDS.
Course being recognized: Ethics and Society
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SCHOOL OF NURSING
didn’t know what to expect when [then] Dean Stanley Gabor invited me to have lunch with him at the Hopkins Club 15 years ago. He asked if I would be interested in
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Robert Siliciano
My most memorable class involved a discussion about individuals acting in a morally responsible way. The class was working with the premise that it is morally right if you think, feel or believe it’s right. After much discussion about who is morally right, one student said, “I have a gun, so I must be right.”
My two favorite teachers would have to be my parents, who supported my early beginnings as a research scientist. My mother and father, an orthopedic surgeon, gave me their full support in constructing my first chemistry lab in the family attic. [My mother] would supply industrial-grade chemicals, including ether, benzene and concentrated hydrochloric acid. I even had my own Bunsen burner, glass beakers and flasks. I used an electric fan to blow the fumes out a window, with only a few minor mishaps.
Stephen Vicchio, adjunct faculty, Public Safety Leadership
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Vietnamese language instructor at Harvard. Ngô Nhu Bình follows a doctrine described in Vietnamese by the expression “Gio cao dánh khe,” which means “Raise the stick high but hit gently,” which I have tried to emulate.
Sarah “Jodi” Shaefer, assistant
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
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teaching an ethics course in a new program for police, fire and safety personnel. Intrigued by the offer, I happily accepted. The program is now part of the School of Education’s Division of Public Safety Leadership.
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Teaching
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SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: Mary Hendricks and Stephen Vicchio
professor, Nursing Systems and Outcomes Recognized for: Excellence in undergraduate teaching
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riginally, I came from a public health and clinical specialization background and then transitioned into academia. It’s been a challenging transition, and one thing I’ve learned is to be clear with my students regarding my expectations. I try to make it clear that my role is to help them learn the content. They’re responsible for the preparation, but I help them achieve the objectives. The thing I have learned from our students is that they bring amazing skills, capabilities and work experiences to the field of nursing. I have watched the students take this strength and apply it to a health education class for students at Dunbar Middle School. They have taught me new ways to engage middle school students. I’ve also learned how to harness the students’ skills and enthusiasm. Two Accelerated 2010 students share my passion for family support following infant death; together we are writing an article about bereavement needs for a Hindu or Buddhist family following an infant death. My favorite teacher was Mary V. Neal at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She was a good match for my learning style because she gave general directions and expected me to figure out the solution or answer or to ask questions. Neal was a leader in nursing and showed me the possibilities for a nursing career. If I had to pick my most memorable day in the classroom, it would have been this spring, when I returned to class after my husband passed away. It was an Accelerated 2010 research class, and upon returning, I thanked them for their kindness in this
very difficult time. I had sent them information about my husband’s unexpected death and told the class how to help when faced with a patient/family unexpected death. Through my experience, I was able to teach my students for their future practice. It was a teachable moment that had nothing to do with nursing research but how to be “human” and kind to families faced with tragedy.
Mary Terhaar, assistant professor, Nursing Systems and Outcomes Recognized for: Excellence in graduate teaching
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love being a nurse. I find it to be a very satisfying career. Every day, there’s a different challenge, and as a teacher, you can make a difference. I want my students to fall in love with what they do, and carry that passion with them into their careers. What I’ve learned from my students, particularly my doctor of nursing practice students, is that you have to take risks. Our DNP students are experts in what they do—they’re directors, managers, nurse practitioners—but they’ve taken a risk by coming back to school. They want to learn how to be the best at what they do. There’s an inspirational poster that reads, “What if the very best thing in your career hasn’t happened yet?” That’s what I’ve learned from the students. It’s a reality check to see if I’m doing the best I can. If I had to pick my favorite teacher, it would the dean at the Catholic University of America, Sister Rosemary Donley. She gave us a different perspective about the knowledge we bring to a particular problem. It is important, she said, to integrate the arts, sciences, nature and other fields to help impact our thinking; by doing so, it will have a Continued on page 10