August 1, 2003

Sometimes Courses Can't Be 'Enjoyable'

By MIKITA BROTTMAN

Last fall, for the first time, I taught an undergraduate course I'd entitled "Understanding Suicide." Through an unfortunate accident of scheduling, the class was held late in the evening, from 7 to 9:45 p.m., in an airless basement classroom with no windows. The setting seemed to create an appropriate mood. Over the semester, I guided 18 students (eventually, only 12) through a series of difficult, often cheerless texts that describe and analyze the disturbing phenomenon of suicide. We

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