University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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History Prof. Gerald F. Linderman teaches what may be one of the Universi- ty ' s most popular courses. Twentieth Century American Wars as Social and Personal Experience. A Yale graduate with post-graduate degrees from North- western. Linderman, 52. worked for the Foreign Service in Africa and India. The Wisconsin native came to the Uni- versity in 1969 and has since written two books. All of my work is focused on the ways in which we as a society fight our wars as those ways reflect our values and our social assumptions. he says. quietly, carefully. He was interviewed by Daily staffer Susanne Skubik. Daily: Your class on American wars is very crowded. Students sit in the aisles and demand more sections. Why is it so popular? Linderman: Well, I think that ' s a diffi- cult question and perhaps it ' s one better asked of those in the class than of me. I do enjoy immensely the oppurtunity to teach here, and perhaps something of that feeling makes its way through what I say. When a talk works, and when the students participate with you to help make it work, it ' s extraordinarily satis- fying, as satisfying or more satsfying than anything else that I do. It might be too that the topic is a rather important one, both because students wonder whether they ' ll be compelled to partici- pate in war and because war permits you to teach very fundamental matters. I think that ' s one of the reasons that the course is so attractive to me—it permits you to teach power and love: it permits you to teach force and persuasion, col- lective and individual experience. D: That ' s important stuff, sure. Is the class getting more popular? L: Well, it was getting out of hand, so that I could scarcely see those who sat in the last rows. And it was at that point that I decided to break the course in two, and to teach first in the early morning and then again in the afternoon. I think it ' s working out better, at least that it ' s no longer so large that I have to worry about the size inhibiting student p artici- pation. D: How do you characterize today ' s stu- dent attitudes and how do they compare to those of earlier generations? L: Student attitudes are today very dif- ferent from those that prevailed when I arrived. In 1969 and 1970, a significant number of students involved themselves in anti-Vietnam War protests and the Black Action Movement strike and the The University ' s architecture is as warted as it is attractive. PROLOGUE • 13