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 I was a student in the first Victorian literature class that Barry Qualls taught at Rutgers 35 years ago. I remember little of the actual classroom experience, but I do remember that he and I read and discussed Professor Richard Poirier’s book, The Performing Self, as an extracurricular activity. One of these discussions took place over dinner at Barry’s house, and the evening turned out to be an important learning experience for me. Barry served artichokes that evening. I had never eaten an artichoke—they were not on my family’s menu as I was growing up—so Barry graciously educated me in the rather complex and delicate process of artichoke consumption. This was truly “hands-on”—rather than “book”—learning. And yet, that evening symbolizes, in a way, the manner in which Barry opened my life to wider horizons.
There is much that I took away from Rutgers and from my relationship with Barry. We had numerous discussions of books and writers, and I saw how Barry’s love of the Victorians was a source of inspiration in his teaching and writing—one that he naturally passed on to his students and colleagues. One of the key realizations I made through Barry was the way in which enthusiasm for a text is the starting point for studying literature.
We became friends. I majored in English and went on to pursue graduate study in English at Northwestern University. Though I had planned to become a college professor, I ended up leaving the program with a master’s degree and working in the business world. Barry played a role in this stage of my life too, and helped me see that by pursuing a business career I wasn’t necessarily abandoning my interest in language and literature. Much later, he became a mentor to my wife, encouraging her to return to graduate school for her PhD—she now teaches philosophy at NYU. He more recently met with our daughter and encouraged her to attend Rutgers; however, she was intent on going out of state and we are paying private school tuition bills.
I retrieved Professor Poirier’s The Performing Self from my bookshelf this weekend as I was thinking about what I might say today. I had underlined a quote from D. H. Lawrence about the “struggle for verbal consciousness,” which Lawrence insisted was a central concern not only of literature but also of life. Professor Poirier then goes on to comment on this struggle, and I would like to read from the text:
Locating, then watching, then describing and participating in this struggle as it takes place in the writings of any period could be the most exciting and promising direction of English studies. It points to where language and history truly meet. Literary study can thus be made relevant to life not as a mere supplier of images or visions, but as an activity; it can create capacities through exercise with the language of literature that can then be applied to the language of politics and power, the language of daily life.
This is from a chapter entitled “What Is English Studies?” I realize that Barry never doubted that my study of English literature would be relevant to my life and my work. He was right, and his confidence on this point is one of many characteristics that make him such a good teacher.
My preference now, as then, is poetry, and Barry has continued to encourage my interest, giving me many books of poetry. Even though I did not become a college English professor, I still hold the written word quite dear. I enjoy irony and the value of subtle meaning in a text. My life has been enriched by Barry’s teaching, our dialogue, and his friendship. I believe we find in him a teacher whose intelligence and spirit are sources of pride and gratitude for us all.
“For me, good teaching—the ability to excite students about the material and provoke them to go beyond classroom presentations, and to think and read beyond the syllabus—is central to the undergraduate’s experience of a research university.”
—Barry Qualls |
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Editor’s Note: Alumnus Ernest G. Jacob delivered a version of these remarks at the reception hosted by Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick, on December 12, 2006, to celebrate Barry V. Qualls as the 2006 New Jersey Professor of the Year.
The U.S. Professors of the Year program salutes the most outstanding faculty in the country—those who excel as teachers and influence the lives and careers of their students. Among the most prestigious programs honoring professors, the awards are given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Two other Rutgers University faculty have held this honor: Stephen J. Greenfield, a professor of mathematics, was named the 2004 New Jersey Professor of the Year, and Clement Alexander Price, a professor of history, was named the 1999 New Jersey Professor of the Year.
Qualls, who currently serves as the vice president for undergraduate education, continues to teach undergraduate classes and publish articles on nineteenth century British literature. He has also taught seminars for high school teachers on Victorian fiction and poetry, the Bible as literature, and women writers.
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