NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin English lecturer Scott
Sherman gestures during an English 3 class. Sherman wants
to get students to take an active part in learning by proposing
their own syllabi and conducting research on subjects that interest
them.
By Marjorie Hernandez
Daily Bruin Contributor
English lecturer Scott Sherman usually starts class with jokes
and a story
Last Tuesday, as 40 English 3 students listened to his jovial
memories of dormitory life, Sherman also recounted a more serious
story.
On the weekend before his first semester at UC Berkeley. Sherman
and two friends were walking at night when gang members severely
attacked him.
Disoriented and fearing for his safety, Sherman was rushed to
the campus medical center.
“I was baptized in my own blood,” Sherman said.
In the aftermath of the attack, Sherman was left with physical
and emotional scars, wounds that changed him forever.
Many people told Sherman that he should never walk alone at
night. Others suggested retaliation against his attackers.
Distraught, Sherman, then 17, found comfort in books,
discovering Leo Tolstoy’s theory on non-violence
“It resonated something deep inside of me that I said,
“˜Yes, he has finally presented this alternative to
violence,'” Sherman said. “He opened me up to a
new world of ideas that I never knew had existed before.”
Tolstoy’s inspiring words led to Sherman’s interest
in non-violence and works by Martin Luther King, Jr, Mohandas
Ghandi, Dorothy Day and Cesar Chavez.
Now an English lecturer at UCLA, Sherman wants to let his
students see the power of words and the importance of books in
their lives.
And many students in Sherman’s English composition,
rhetoric and language class value his approach to teaching.
“He’s not a boring old fart,” said second-year
civil engineering student Paul Kirth. “I’m a number to
all of my other teachers and that pisses me off. He actually knows
my name.”
To get students more interested in their studies, Sherman, who
teaches the class with fellow lecturer Lauri Mattenson, constructed
the class to allow students to propose their own class
syllabus.
Modeled after Berkeley’s Democratic Education classes,
students conduct research on subjects that they would like to learn
about.
Students then present their material and syllabus to the class,
thereby actually teaching the information themselves.
Sherman wants to propose students’ ideas to the English
department hoping they will eventually become regular courses.
With ideas ranging from studies on divorce and its effects on
family to a class on rave culture, the topics address current
student concern.
“It’s different from any other class we’ve
taken,” said second-year student Kasie Chan. “Right
now, I actually want to go do this paper.”
Sherman is also teaching a writing for law class where students
participate in six mock trials.
Getting to know his students outside of class is also important
to Sherman, who takes his students to hiking trips so they can bond
with one another.
Graduate student and writing center assistant student affairs
officer Christine O’Keefe said Sherman’s ideas have had
positive effects.
“It can enhance the academic environment,” she said.
“People feel more confident discussing things in
class.”
Although O’Keefe said going with a specific group of
students could cause divisions and what she termed an
“in-group mentality,” this doesn’t seem to be the
case with Sherman.
“It could be a problem if only certain people went,”
she said. “But it seems like he gets a lot of people to
go.”
Sherman’s work with students also extends beyond UCLA.
From Berkeley, where he graduated from law school, Sherman went
back to Hollywood in 1993 where he worked with gang members and
at-risk youth.
“I wanted to create a world where violence that happened
to me never has to happen to anyone else,” said Sherman.
“But to do that, I can’t be in an ivory tower just
writing books on the theory of non-violence. You have to live it.
You have to be true to your message.”
Another one of Sherman’s concerns involves
environmentalism which led to his writing “It’s the End
of the World As We Know It and I Could Use a Drink.” A parody
of the James Bond series, the book involves the hero uncovering who
and what is destroying the earth and how humans can prevent this
trend.
Realizing that protecting the environment sometimes overwhelms
the general public, Sherman said he wanted to approach the problem
with a lighter tone.
“If all you hear about are these huge, massive problems,
you tend to think that one person can’t make a
difference,” he said. “I noticed that ultimately
that’s disempowering.”
With his writing, Sherman hopes to reach people beyond the
university,
“My passion in life is to write books that will help
transform and heal people’s lives, and help enlighten people
to new perspectives of the world,” he said.
Despite his efforts to influence students and the public ,
Sherman said he can’t measure his success.
“The most difficult thing about teaching at any level is
that you don’t get immediate feedback,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s hard to determine if you are having any
impact at all.”
With his courses, Sherman said he wants to foster
students’ genuine interest in their classes and the English
language.
“Words do have power. It can transform and heal,” he
said. “Being able to have a master over language and being
able to think critically are the most valuable skills that students
will take with them from the university.”