West expected to draw crowds to new AAS classes

When an administrative error let 606 Harvard University students enroll in Professor Cornel West GS '80's "Intro to Afro-American Studies" course in 2001, West stood before his overflowing lecture hall and vowed that no student would be turned away.

After considering several venues, the course was ultimately held in the lower level of a nearby parish.

West's lecture this spring, AAS 369/REL 369: Philosophic, Religious and Literary Dimensions of DuBois, Baldwin and Morrison, may prove to be as popular as its Harvard predecessor.

The course lists 32 potential precepts and a maximum enrollment of 400. If it is fully enrolled, lectures will probably be held in McCosh 50, which can seat 500 students, or possibly McCosh 10, which can seat 400.

As of last night, 121 students — 23 freshmen, 38 sophomores, 34 juniors and 23 seniors — had put the course in their online schedules, according to the Student Course Guide.

West's teaching method, like his intellectual background, is rooted in his eclectic style. Harvard students smile as they remember his lectures, which have been known to draw upon "funkadelic" beats and Supremes songs to expand on a particular theme.

Former students note his ability to connect diverse strains of thought, drawing upon traditions as varied as Michel Foucault and Martin Luther King Jr.

Harvard senior Julie Hiatt attended numerous lectures by West and was struck by his "dynamism, charisma and unbridled enthusiasm for the class."

"His voice would drop to a dramatic whisper at key moments," she said. "He'd cackle and hiss and his eyes would twinkle."

During his seven years in Cambridge, West's rhetorical skills and multidimensional approach left students enraptured and lecture halls filled, students said.

Debbie Jacobsen '03, who plans to take West's seminar, REL 316: Public Intellectuals and Religious Traditions: Erasmus, Hume, Arnold and Said, said she will not be surprised if his lecture is fully enrolled.

"People are drawn to him for the same reasons that they are drawn to Professor Gager, Professor Singer, and Professor Silver — both because he presents an alternate (and well-supported) view in a very public debate and because he seems to defy prevailing expectations of his position," she wrote in an email. "He is sort of the 'rebel' professor, and that gets people excited."

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AAS 369/REL 369 focuses on the important African-American writers of the 20th Century W.E.B. DuBois, author of "The Souls of Black Folk"; James Baldwin, a novelist and author of social criticism; and University humanities professor Toni Morrison, author of "Song of Solomon," "Beloved" and "Jazz" and the recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature.

"The course will serve both as an introduction to the African-American intellectual tradition and as a way of exploring the ethical, political and spiritual issues addressed in that tradition," said Jeffrey Stout GS '76, acting chair of the religion department.

In addition to recognizing West's popularity, Stout stressed the strength of the religion department's two other new teachers, Eddie Glaude GS '95 and Rachel Elior, who is visiting from Hebrew University this year.

"I wouldn't want to see this course eclipse other courses that will be offered, including [those] by other new people such as Professors Glaude or Elior, whose courses for the spring will be every bit as exciting as Professor West's," Stout said. "The spring religion offerings might be the best ever."