In just his second year at Dartmouth as a visiting professor in the government department, Douglas Edlin received the Student Assembly's Profiles in Excellence award at a packed dinner Friday night in the Rockefeller Center. The award was based upon multiple nominations from upperclassmen and freshmen alike.
Edlin accepted his award with humility, devoting most of his speech to an explanation of why he teaches the way he does and how his students make teaching such an exciting job.
"I think the reason I teach the way I do is based on my experience as an undergrad" at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Edlin said. At Hobart, a small liberal arts school, he said, "The professors believed that teaching was their primary job, and that's the best part of this job. And although I like my research, the reason I do this job is because of the teaching."
Edlin also said that his experiences as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his master's degree; Cornell University, where he went to law school; and Oxford University, where he obtained a Ph.D., shaped the way he teaches at the College.
"Teaching really depends primarily on the student, which gets lost in law school, where professors are making sure everyone understands they're right," Edlin said, emphasizing that he strives to learn from his students.
Edlin encourages his students to have a conversation with him and give him insight on their assigned reading, as was the case at Oxford, where students met with professors for a one-on-one tutorial.
"You teach me all the time," he told the students in the audience. "I think it's easy for professors to think that they already know all there is to know, but I think that's fundamentally wrong. Every single term someone says something that I've never thought of," he said.
Indeed, government major Kiran Talluri '05, who attended the dinner, praised Edlin's manner of leading class discussion. "You might leave with your opinion, or it might change, but the important thing is that there is a dialogue."
Jon Sar '04, a government major who nominated Edlin, said, "I have seen him lead discussions on the most sensitive of issues -- sexual assault, affirmative action, gay rights, to name a few -- and he has always managed to maintain an atmosphere of respect, tolerance and openness that encourages students of all views to participate."
In addition, Edlin discussed how his six-year stint as a lawyer specializing in litigation influenced his decision to become a professor.
"I really liked being a lawyer, but it's a very different thing in your heart when you know you're representing the wrong side in a case," he said, alluding to some Fortune 500 clients his firm represented.
On the other hand, Edlin represented a couple who bought a house from a large realty company that had concealed facts about the house, namely that the house was built on stilts and was slowly sinking.
"As a result of what I thought was my legal skill, but in fact, their [the couple's] appearance on 20/20, the realty company settled with them," Edlin said, receiving laughter from the students.
Regardless of whom he represented, Edlin said, "Fundamentally, I liked doing that work, but I love this. Teaching in class gives me the same charge that going to court every day did."
And beyond that charge, teaching allows him to form relationships with his students, he explained.
"I honestly think that my teaching could change someone's perspective -- or someone's life -- the way college did for me," Edlin said.
Curtis Leitner '04, a government major who is currently writing his thesis with Edlin as his adviser, attested to this.
"He has given more attention to my work than I could have ever hoped for, and that attention has been valuable and made me a better thinker, writer, and, at times, person," Leitner said.
This term, Edlin is teaching a freshman seminar on race, politics and the law, and an upperclassmen seminar on race in the judicial process.
Next term he is teaching a course entitled "the Supreme Court and Constitutional Development."
