Colby Magazine, Summer 2003

	No Swimming College pulls plug on senior "tradition" of swimming across Johnson Pond; two students take the plunge.

	New at the Helm Colby's Randy Helm takes over presidency at Muhlenberg College.

	Game Face Colby and President William Bro Adams figure prominently in Reclaiming the Game, a book about the impact of sports on Division III colleges.

	On Dry Land Linda Greenlaw '83, swordfish boat captain and bestselling author, speaks on books and boats., a book about the impact of sports on Division III colleges.

	One for Kasser Jeff Kasser (philosophy) receives the Bassett Teaching Award.

	Kasser's Speech Read Professor Kasser's speech to the Class of 2003.

	C3 Project Environmental Studies project takes hard look at College's emissions, finds solutions in "offset" system.

	What we're saying, and where we're saying it.

By Alicia Nemiccolo MacLeay '97

Jeff Kasser

Jeff Kasser is ever the philosophical philosophy professor. The 2003 recipient of the Senior Class Charles Bassett Teaching Award, Kasser was thrilled to get the award by a vote of the senior class. However, he hopes the award will encourage students to think about the different ways of teaching well. "If you're a popular teacher it falls to you to raise those questions," he said. (Read Professor Kasser's speech.)

Being an exemplary teacher is what philosophers call a "multiple-realizability," says the assistant professor of philosophy. "It is one thing, but there are a lot of different ways of doing that one thing," said Kasser. "I got the award for trying mighty hard to be a good teacher."

Since 1998 Kasser has taught courses at Colby on American philosophy, epistemology (the nature of knowledge) and the philosophy of science and religion. He has also been advisor to WMHB.

"Jeff makes difficult material accessible better than anyone else from whom I've taken a class," said Peter Osborn '03, a philosophy-mathematics and philosophy double major. "After one of Jeff's classes, students feel as though they have conducted a complete study, not just a survey of scattered ideas."

Kasser says he likes his single-minded approach. ("I get wired up on coffee and get as much done as possible," he said.) However, he sees benefits in having more flexibility in the classroom. Kasser says he respects teachers who let students work in small groups but feels there never is enough time in his own classes. He also believes there are times appropriate for a straight lecture to students. "But I can't do it," he said. "I can't leave them out of the conversation, because it feels like a conversation."

So, what does Kasser think it takes to be a good teacher? "You have to really care about two things--students and the material," he said. "You have to care passionately about both of them and you have to make hard choices between them."

For this philosophy professor an award is never merely an award. It's also an opportunity to provoke students to think.

FEATURES:

Going Places
The Colby College Museum of Art has grown steadily in stature over the
past four decades. Lynne Moss Perricelli '95 looks at the museum's past,
present, and future.

Pride and Prejudice
Gay Colby students are demanding more visibility and inclusion in the
College community. Colby details their concerns, and those of
students who think the gay community has gone too far.

Colby Green
Construction begins for The Colby Green, the centerpiece of the
College's most significant expansion in a half-century.

All that Jazz
Vinnie Martucci '77 composes and improvises to make a life in music