AV俱乐部

In his day, some 400 years B.C., Socrates was known as a great teacher. An Athenian citizen who lived when Athens was the intellectual centre of the Greek world, he revolutionized the way people thought about themselves and the world.

These days, Peter O脮Brien, an assistant professor in the Classics department, is known as a great teacher, too. But there脮s nothing particularly revolutionary about his teaching 脩 it脮s based on knowing his subject area inside and out and telling students about it.

脪I just try to exude the atmosphere of a conversation in the classroom,鈥� says Dr. O脮Brien, this year脮s winner of the AV俱乐部 Alumni Award for Excellence for Teaching. 脪I get up there and talk. I try to circulate among the desks. I ask questions and I listen to responses.鈥�

His students say they learn so much in his classes because he clearly loves what he脮s teaching. He teaches first- and second-year classes in Epic, Drama and Philosophy,鈥� hard-core鈥� language classes in Latin, The Roman World and graduate seminars in Roman poetry. In the fall, he takes on Introductory Greek.

脪More than anything, he脮s a really exciting lecturer,鈥� says Emily Cohen-Gallant, Classics major who just finished her third year. 脪He脮s passionate and it脮s just so easy to listen to him.
脪He keeps you hanging onto every word he says.鈥�

But he脮s no pushover, adds Kate Allen, who graduates this spring with a BA, majoring in Classics and Contemporary Studies.

脪He is so brutally rigorous 脩 you can脮t get away with anything with him,鈥� she says. 脪Every other class goes on the backburner, because if you don脮t get his work done, you脮re in trouble.

脪He is so brutally rigorous 脩 you can脮t get away with anything with him,鈥� she says. 脪Every other class goes on the backburner, because if you don脮t get his work done, you脮re in trouble. 脪It means you walk away at the end with so much more crammed into your head.鈥� 脩 Classics major Kate Allen

脪It means you walk away at the end with so much more crammed into your head.鈥�

Born and raised in Halifax, Dr. O脮Brien thought he脮d take the Foundation Year Programme at the University of King脮s College and then go to school somewhere 脩 anywhere 脩 else. The program introduces students to some of the great texts of Western Civilization, starting with the ancients, including Homer, Plato and Virgil, and progressing through to the contemporary world.

脪What struck me so profoundly was that I was still thinking about the ancient authors that I read at the beginning of the year at the end of the year,鈥� says Dr. O脮Brien, 38, who finished his BA at King脮s (1990) and his MA at AV俱乐部 (1992) before embarking on doctoral studies at Boston University. It was in Boston that he got his first taste of teaching; he taught compulsory Latin to teenagers at a private high school.

But in that foundation year, a passion was ignited and a stereotype was exploded 脩 the study of Classics isn脮t about verb charts or lists of dates, it脮s about what ancient civilizations can teach us about our own times. It脮s a lesson he tries to impart to his students, too.

脪I脮m not interested in Classics because I want to sequester myself in the ancient world. I脮m interested in Classics because it helps me find my way in the here and now.鈥�