The art of education

Gary S. Wihl, Ph.D. (right), dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, meets with Phyllis Goldberg, niece of the late Hortense and Tobias Lewin, after the Sept. 16 ceremony in which he was installed as the Hortense and Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities. His installation address focused on “The Art of Education” and one of his priorities as dean: preserving “the elements of delight in higher education.” In his address, he went on to explain, “by which I mean that aspect of higher education that produces delight, pleasure and curiosity. Conversation is an excellent metaphor for education that produces delight. Can you master a very difficult subject, write important papers and articles, attend lectures and conferences, and find delight, humor, pleasure? Emphatically, yes. As educators and custodians of vast stores of knowledge, we need to share more of that delight with our students, our peers and the public.”