Alright, it’s March. That means that there are only about two months left in the Winter term and that in less than a month and a half, you’ll be sitting in your final lecture of the term – BUT, the question is, what if we ALL got to hear the SAME last lecture?!?!? That’s where the After U program’s The Last Lecture comes into play.
Last year alumnus Dan Riskin (famous for things such as the Daily Planet and sharing the wonders of bat ploppings… and yes, I chose “ploppings” over “droppings”) provided The Last Lecture. This is year the folks from After U have chosen to bring The Last Lecture a little closer to the classroom. This time around students and alumni have been asked to nominate their favourite U of A profs to provide the final classroom talk of the semester. And now that the top three professors have been identified, YOU get to vote for the one that you would like to hear!
[Please tap your fingers on the nearest table top as you read this next bit….]
The nominees are:
So, just who are these fine professors and why were they nominated?
Linda Kerr, History
“My entire HIST 429 class can attest to this, Linda Kerr has in one way or another changed our lives. It was in her HIST 110 class that I found out just how much I loved history, so I changed my major and minor. She is amazing and makes me want to wake up to be early for our 9AM class every Friday morning. If I could be a teacher I would want to be like her.”
Bio:
I was born in Glasgow and have always felt a strong connection to that city and the land of my birth. I received my PhD at the University of Alberta and have taught here ever since. I am happy to say that my husband and all three of my children attended the University of Alberta. I teach Canadian, Scottish, British and World history. I also teach First Nations history and Canadian history at Athabasca University. Recently my eldest son and I set up a series of you tube talks on history called The History Hut and we have had great fun with this. Students really like watching or listening to them and each video is tailored to go along with my course lectures so this helps them study for exams. I travel as much as possible because I have always thought that it is important to visit the places I teach about plus I get to show some spectacular photos in class. Nothing makes me happier than to be in class teaching.
Robert Burch, Philosophy
"Dr. Burch is not only incredibly knowledgeable about philosophy. He also possesses a humble wisdom that would impress even Socrates. His lectures are engaging, eye-opening, occasionally disruptive of my worldview, and laced with a humour as dark and dry as a vat of his favourite drink, single malt."
Bio:
Robert Burch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy. He received a PhD in philosophy from the University of Toronto (1982), and after a brief time as an instructor at Haverford College, PA, began teaching at the University of Alberta in the fall of 1983. He has supervised over 30 graduate theses and served on close to 70 thesis examining committees across 8 departments.
David Begg, Medicine
"Dr. Begg is hands down still the best professor I've ever had. He cares deeply for his students and he is well respected by everyone he teaches. His wonderful sense of humour makes class very enjoyable. He is the only professor I've had that handshakes every single one of his students as they hand in their final exams. I still hold dear the motivational speech he gave at the end of the final lecture; he taught me the importance of doing what you love. You just can't summarize why he rocks in 512 characters."
Bio:
David Begg was born in Boston, Massachusetts and spent his earlier career in the United States. He received his M.S. in Marine Biology and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a faculty member in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School before moving to the University of Alberta in 1991. He is currently a Professor in the Division of Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. At the University of Alberta, he teaches human anatomy to the medical and dental students as well as a number of undergraduate anatomy courses, including Anatomy 200, the large, introductory course in human anatomy.
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