Look Who’s Coming to Lecture

by Diane M. Calabrese

WHAT DOES A presidential candidate do after winning the popular vote but losing in the electoral college? This fate befell Andrew Jackson in 1824. He returned to his Tennessee plantation, The Hermitage, worked his slaves hard and reminded everyone who would listen of his military exploits in the War of 1812 and of his success at opening lands to white settlers by killing the Native Americans who had lived there. The strategy worked. Cerebral John Quincy Adams was no match for Jackson, who coasted to the Oval Office in 1828 with the slogan: "Would you rather vote for a man who can fight or a man who can write?"

Another Tennessee native, Al Gore, faced Jackson's predicament. He may yet emulate King Andrew, as critics dubbed him. But for the moment, Gore has chosen a more prudent course: life as a visiting scholar. He accepted a position at Columbia University's School of Journalism in January, 2001, where he teaches part-time and visits his daughter and grandson, according to CNN.

"This is a special opportunity for the school," said Tom Goldstein, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. "Al Gore will be an incomparable resource for our students and others at this university. From his unique perspective, students will get to see how government and the press intersect."

He may also be an incomparable resource for the media, which flocked to his first lecture on February 6. Although he said little to reporters and is not granting interviews, noted Jeremy von Noss, assistant to Gore's press secretary, the former Vice President smiled and waved to the cameras, looking professorial in his sweater, tie, and tweed jacket. The only item missing from this ensemble was a pipe, but here again Gore's judgment was impeccable, for a pipe might have led people to believe he was courting the tobacco barons. However, he knows it is not too soon to begin posturing for 2004. If Old Hickory could rise from the ashes of defeat, why not Gore?

Gore's course, a non-credit seminar for students studying national-affairs reporting entitled Covering National Affairs in the Information Age, met six times that spring and may be offered again in spring 2002. The question is whether Gore can squeeze it into his schedule. He is also visiting scholar at Columbia's new Institute for Child and Family Policy, where he focuses on family and community development.

"This past spring, we got a great start on this new course and on the curriculum for family-centered community building," said Gore in a press release. "It was a great learning experience for me and I think for the students as well. I'm looking forward to making it an even stronger experience this fall as we launch a full year course."

This fall he will shoulder a larger teaching load at Fisk University and Middle Tennessee State University and will continue to be a research professor at UCLA, where he won't teach but instead will conduct research symposia on families and communities. Gore is not the only busy visiting scholar.

Oprah Winfrey co-teaches Dynamics of Leadership, with Stedman Graham, at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, in addition to her duties as chair of the Harpo Entertainment Group and host and producer of the highest-rated talk show in television history. The course met ten times in three-hour blocks during the fall 2001 quarter at the Evanston campus. Enrollment topped out at 100 students, a success that has led Northwestern to repeat the course this fall.

"Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential business executives in the world and is a wonderful addition to our faculty," said Kellogg Dean Donald Jacobs. "Our students are thrilled about the new course, and we feel that both she and Mr. Graham will offer insights on leadership and entrepreneurship that will enlighten our students."

With all these celebrities, it's refreshing to know that common folk still teach at universities. Remember Lamar Alexander, the Republican presidential hopeful in 1996 and 2000 who, with his plaid flannel shirts, looked like a lumberjack from the Pacific Northwest? He now teaches at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, though it's tough to tell how much of a commoner he is. His net worth of more than $6 million, according to Real People for Real Change, a political action committee, and work as a Washington lawyer and lobbyist in Senator Howard Baker's law firm, Tennessee governor, president of the University of Tennessee, Secretary of Education, and member of the Board of Directors at Lockheed Martin stamp him as more patrician than plebeian.

As Secretary of Education, Alexander promised to "break the mold of schools," a pledge he may have a chance to fulfill at Harvard, where he is Roy M. and Barbara Goodman Visiting Professor of the Practice of Public Service, announced School of Government Dean Joseph Nye in January 2001.

"This is a delightful opportunity to work on the ideas I care about the most," Alexander said.

Last spring he taught a course on the presidential campaign, and he is now assembling students and faculty into teams to study education and the principles that form the American character.

"Because of his wealth of experience in education and his commitment to public service, Lamar Alexander serves as an inspiration to our students," said Nye, who cited Alexander's role as chairman of Simplex, a San Francisco company that helps schools save money by buying supplies on-line and chairman of the Salvation Army Initiative, which helps families move from welfare to work. Perhaps we can all take courage from his example and aspire to be visiting scholars. After all, the life of a visiting icon is quite a step up from the life of an average adjunct faculty member.