When I studied critical theory at the University of Virginia in the mid-1990s there were some of us who took the course with E. D. Hirsch and some of us who took it with Richard Rorty. But many of us took the course from one and audited the other’s lectures. Which is what I did.
There were a lot of Rorty anecdotes that made their way around the graduate student grapevine then, but what I remember best was the culture of open argumentation from his classes. “If you people don’t talk back to me we’re all going to be bored to death,” he announced on the first day. The other thing anyone who ever met him will remember is the amazing shock of white hair and the deep, gravelly voice. He was not the most important teacher I ever had, but my memories of him and those classes remain strong. He was a strong man and a strong mind.
Posted by mgk at June 11, 2007 08:19 PMMatt, how fortunate you were at UVa to have both Hirsch and Rorty. At UMd back in my day (early 80s), John Howard was the guy who taught critical methods.
Posted by: rogerr at June 19, 2007 08:22 AM | Link to Comment