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Books. Papers. Postcards of famous faces on the walls. It is a
small office, like most, and in perfect disarray.
Dutch Henry wears a dress shirt, with his hair cropped short
and his eyes pinned to the emails on his computer screen. Truth
be known, he is younger than I expected. He asks me to sit in the
vacant chair next to his desk and rescues a pamphlet from his
desk drawer to give me. It shouts “Paris 2008” in bold green letters
and displays images of Paris and its people.
Many students know Henry, a professor of literature who specializes
in 19th Century British work and is known for his fun
teaching style and in-depth analysis. But few students know that
he is leading a group of students to Paris in summer of 2008.
What for? I ask.
“For travel experience,” he says. “For exposure to culture. Isn’t
that the reason we travel?”
But that’s not all. Henry explained that the focus of the trip
goes deeper than that—deeper into the heart of modern France.
“What does it mean to be French?” the pamphlet asks.
Back to you, Mr. Henry
Henry did not always want to teach literature. His first dream
was to be a journalist. He smiles as he recalled, “Then I took
Literature and loved it.”
Now Henry teaches literature of all kinds, but his favorites are
the 19th Century English authors, such as the Brontë sisters,
Dickens and Browning.
His personal philosophy on teaching is quite simple: Let students
make up their own minds. He tries to assign small chunks of
reading per day, keeping his opinions out of the ensuing discussion.
This allows students to have an authentic experience with
a smaller passage.
He stops here to tell me a story about when he taught Emily
Brontë’s novel “The Wuthering Heights.” He remembered that as
they finished the book and discussed it in class, one of his students
started crying. At first, Henry thought the tears sprang from
her personal life, but upon inquiring he discovered their source:
the lives of the tortured characters in the novel. She was overwhelmed
by the sadness of the book.
“I never had anyone brought to tears by the reading before,” he
said, suddenly quite thoughtful. “It was very moving.”
Henry also writes poetry and has edited a book with fellow
SCC instructors Pam Dusenberry and T. Sean Rody. The book is
“College Knowledge,” an introduction to college with readings
and assignments.
I ask if he’s ever published anything else. “I write a lot of research
papers,” he says, considering. “But beyond that, I get minimal
publication.”
After thanking him for his time, I stand up to leave. We shake
hands again. He turns back to his computer screen. Then I remember
I had one more question: “What inspires you, Mr. Henry?”
He turns to me from his computer. He doesn’t have to think
very long. “Students inspire me.”
He pauses here, allowed the to moment stretch, then smiles.
“And challenge me, which is a way of being inspired.”
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