Vermeersch
A lecture hall in the "Blandijn" faculty at UGent 1996
"I am not going to teach my syllabus, I answer questions."
It took us, new fresh students at university, some time to get used to but after a few classes his desk filled with little balls of paper, that he unravelled and started to read out loud, after which the teaching could begin. I never dared to enter a question as he was too much a professor whose extensive knowledge was intimidating and I didn't understand anything from the philosophy in the binder. It was just a matter to try to understand and study by heart.
Paper balls got unrolled ...some just with some insults to him, which he read out loud dryly, thanked for the feedback and continued without emotions.
One time there was a question on the desk about someone with suicidal thoughts.
"Well, it's quite likely someone is messing around with us and just wants to ensure we don't have a class. But there is a chance this is a serious question and I'm not going to bet on it so I'll take time to answer this question. " After that he filled an hour with serious advice on emotional feelings and distress etc.
The lessons were filled with stories about great philosophers, Indian poetry, some literature pieces, ancient cultures rituals, geography knowledge, ...you name it. He taught us a few hours on why God cannot exist ( as an ex-Jesuit) and the loopholes in Genesis but why Jesus is a historic factual figure "because Jesus died so he must have lived" (can't deny that logic, can you?) (he claimed there is valid proof he died). He seemed to have read all the knowledge there is to read and you could never point a hole in his logic.
The student club was distributing exam papers from him and he heard about it. "Do you want my exam questions? Here are all my exam questions, you can have all of them". Indeed, his exam questions were a few thousand statements such as "Plato and Nietsche both value ... but oppose to ...." "Schumpeter and Marx have opposing views on ...." etc... His exam bundled for each question 5 of such statements and you had to indicate which were right and which were wrong. So each question with 5 of such statements covered already a vast area of his syllabus...take a few hundred of these questions and you were a philosophy expert. No wonder that he was just distributing his exam questions : if you knew the answers to them, you knew the subject.
On a Saturday he gave his last class before retirement. Many students from different departments were invited to that last class, so each seat was taken, the staircases of the aula were full and from each door to the hallway a few dozen students were packed to try to get a glimpse. TV crews from the news were in the aula recording this last class. This was a celebrity educating us and his ego enjoyed every touch of attention we got. When we were most distracted by the press, he corrected us and pointed out that they came for him, not for us.
During the exam (for a base subject of only 1 hour/week) that was scheduled for a full day : half a day the multiple choice exam and half a day open questions...he showed up while we were working on the multiple choice. He sat down behind the front desk for half an hour , maybe an hour...working in silence after which he stood up and proclaimed that "he made his exam and that it was slightly difficult". A brave student on the front row asked him if he passed which triggered an amused smile..."I think so, yes".
It was not mandatory to make his exam: you were allowed to hand in an elaborated and well documented self-made philosophy which he'd rate on objective criteria. Apparently each year 2-3 students in Ghent had the audacity to try that.
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I've always been glad to have had the opportunity to have classes from one of "Belgium's greatest thinkers" as press proclaim him today in their eulogy. He sure has influenced our society with his ethical advice in several political transformations such as euthanasia or abortion laws. May professor Etienne Vermeersch rest in peace.
"I am not going to teach my syllabus, I answer questions."
It took us, new fresh students at university, some time to get used to but after a few classes his desk filled with little balls of paper, that he unravelled and started to read out loud, after which the teaching could begin. I never dared to enter a question as he was too much a professor whose extensive knowledge was intimidating and I didn't understand anything from the philosophy in the binder. It was just a matter to try to understand and study by heart.
Paper balls got unrolled ...some just with some insults to him, which he read out loud dryly, thanked for the feedback and continued without emotions.
One time there was a question on the desk about someone with suicidal thoughts.
"Well, it's quite likely someone is messing around with us and just wants to ensure we don't have a class. But there is a chance this is a serious question and I'm not going to bet on it so I'll take time to answer this question. " After that he filled an hour with serious advice on emotional feelings and distress etc.
The lessons were filled with stories about great philosophers, Indian poetry, some literature pieces, ancient cultures rituals, geography knowledge, ...you name it. He taught us a few hours on why God cannot exist ( as an ex-Jesuit) and the loopholes in Genesis but why Jesus is a historic factual figure "because Jesus died so he must have lived" (can't deny that logic, can you?) (he claimed there is valid proof he died). He seemed to have read all the knowledge there is to read and you could never point a hole in his logic.
The student club was distributing exam papers from him and he heard about it. "Do you want my exam questions? Here are all my exam questions, you can have all of them". Indeed, his exam questions were a few thousand statements such as "Plato and Nietsche both value ... but oppose to ...." "Schumpeter and Marx have opposing views on ...." etc... His exam bundled for each question 5 of such statements and you had to indicate which were right and which were wrong. So each question with 5 of such statements covered already a vast area of his syllabus...take a few hundred of these questions and you were a philosophy expert. No wonder that he was just distributing his exam questions : if you knew the answers to them, you knew the subject.
On a Saturday he gave his last class before retirement. Many students from different departments were invited to that last class, so each seat was taken, the staircases of the aula were full and from each door to the hallway a few dozen students were packed to try to get a glimpse. TV crews from the news were in the aula recording this last class. This was a celebrity educating us and his ego enjoyed every touch of attention we got. When we were most distracted by the press, he corrected us and pointed out that they came for him, not for us.
During the exam (for a base subject of only 1 hour/week) that was scheduled for a full day : half a day the multiple choice exam and half a day open questions...he showed up while we were working on the multiple choice. He sat down behind the front desk for half an hour , maybe an hour...working in silence after which he stood up and proclaimed that "he made his exam and that it was slightly difficult". A brave student on the front row asked him if he passed which triggered an amused smile..."I think so, yes".
It was not mandatory to make his exam: you were allowed to hand in an elaborated and well documented self-made philosophy which he'd rate on objective criteria. Apparently each year 2-3 students in Ghent had the audacity to try that.
-----------------------------
I've always been glad to have had the opportunity to have classes from one of "Belgium's greatest thinkers" as press proclaim him today in their eulogy. He sure has influenced our society with his ethical advice in several political transformations such as euthanasia or abortion laws. May professor Etienne Vermeersch rest in peace.
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