English Professor Peter Saccio is doing his part to uphold Dartmouth's reputation as the country's premier teaching institution, even though many of his students have never set foot in his classroom.
Saccio, who came to Dartmouth in 1966, is one of an elite group of "SuperStar" professors selected by a private company to record classes on audio tape for sale to adults.
Saccio teaches Shakespeare, modern British drama, humanities and gay male literature at the College, bringing to his lectures an intensity that has attracted the attention of the New York Times.
"Saccio ... has become something of an expert in recent years on explaining Shakespeare to adults who are often three times as old as the average undergraduate," a recent New York Times article states.
"A dark, intense man with a neatly cropped beard and a commanding voice, he intersperses his taped lectures ... with dramatic readings," the article states.
"When the mad Lear and the blind Gloucester meet at Dover Beach during Act IV of 'King Lear,' Professor Saccio, a sometime actor, squats on the stage and performs both roles."
Saccio will be teaching Humanities 1 to freshmen this fall.
Saccio, who teaches full time at Dartmouth, brings the same intensity to his undergraduate classes.
"I am fairly spectacular in class. I am a performing lecturer," he said. "When you teach a playwright who is 400 years old, you have to bring it alive. After all, it is dramatic literature."
"I try very hard to make lecture as lively and informative as I can," he said.
Saccio's students agree that his classroom manner is exciting.
"He really cares a lot about the material, and it is all drama," Justin Stearns '98 said. "He doesn't hold back from throwing in a few lines himself."
"It gives his classes a more real-life feel. It isn't just academics," Stearns said. "He is very engaging and enjoyable to listen to. He is entertaining."
Saccio said his experience as an actor and avid spectator benefit his students. Saccio performed as Henry IV in Dartmouth's production of Part I of Shakespeare's play.
But Saccio's classroom antics are hardly the only things that make him a superstar.
Tait Bergstrom '97 said Saccio has "an idyllic style of teaching, because he will communicate the general dynamics of something rather than specifics. He goes into specifics only to illustrate a larger whole."
Saccio stays aware of the avant garde by spending every other Winter term in England, where he keeps up on the theater. He uses the playwrights he discovers as material for his classes.
Stearns said Saccio's travel helps liven up class.
"He has a vast array of personal anecdotes from theater performances from his time in England," Stearns said.
But more than Saccio's teaching is idyllic.
In higher education, professors are expected to be more than teachers. Most schools demand scholarly output, published research and theory.
"If you are going to get tenure around here, you have to distinguish yourself in both" teaching and scholarship, Saccio said.
Saccio is the author of two books and served as general editor for an anthology of playwright Thomas Middleton, published by Oxford University Press.
Perhaps his best known work is "Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle and Drama," which shows the historical roots to Shakespeare's history plays.
As well, Saccio is a frequent contributor to a number of critical reviews.
The dual duties of teaching and writing lead professors to certain difficult decisions.
"There is a bit of a struggle between teaching and the scholarship mission," he said.
Saccio said he tries to keep much of his time open for office hours so he can interact with students.
Even listening to Saccio's taped lectures, where there is no interaction, can be a scintillating experience.
New York Times reporter Linda Mathews, who purchased Saccio's taped Shakespeare course, stated "I thought I got my money's worth:
"I had read six plays that would have been incomprehensible without Professor Saccio's wise and often witty interpretations.
"And I fell asleep only once -- far less than I used to back in Harvard Yard."
