2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: News
Students say Kal Penn's Asian American studies class was a hit
Participants praised the blending of typical teaching methods with personal experiences
Priyanka Dev
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"I was a little skeptical at first about what credentials gave him the right to teach a class at Penn," said a College senior and Cinema Studies major who requested anonymity because all students enrolled in the class signed a waiver saying they would not talk to non-class members about its content.
"By the end of the class, I realized it wasn't his academic credentials that got him here, it was his experience in the field - which is equally valuable," she said.
Modi, who served as an adjunct professor in the Asian American Studies Department, taught ASAM 109: Images of Asian Americans in the Media this past semester. His interest in teaching at Penn stemmed from the lectures he had given about how race and gender identity play out in the media, in addition to Penn's robust ASAM program which Modi discovered last November.
"What I really found most interesting was the ability to take the experiences that I had as an actor and find how they were socially relevant," Modi told The Daily Pennsylvanian earlier this semester.
Despite juggling the teaching stint with filming for the FOX hit TV series "House," Modi was accessible and took a keen interest in his role as a teacher, according to his students.
He scheduled multiple office hours on various days and organized group lunches at which smaller groups of students from the approximately 80-person lecture class could sit down with him to discuss class material and Modi's life experiences.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Alum
posted 5/07/08 @ 1:58 PM EST
can somebody please explain this paragraph to me:
"I was a little skeptical at first about what credentials gave him the right to teach a class at Penn," said a College senior and Cinema Studies major who requested anonymity because all students enrolled in the class signed a waiver saying they would not talk to non-class members about its content. (Continued…)
Student
posted 5/07/08 @ 11:00 PM EST
A WAIVER not to discuss course content?! This is a clear attempt by the professor to shield himself from any further criticism stemming from his obvious lack of academic credentials. (Continued…)
thirtyeyes
posted 9/20/08 @ 12:40 AM EST
Wow. You guys are idiots. I'd rather be taught business by someone who was good at it, like Bill Gates than a PHD who's never made a nickel. I'd rather learn about cinema from someone who's good at it than a PHD who does summer stock in upstate New York. (Continued…)
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