Kriti Sood
Wearing bed sheets and playing an ancient Roman, standing on the podium pretending to be the Greek god Zeus are among Eugene Larson’s many techniques to help make his students understand history better.
Larson, chair of history and humanities department and history professor, has spent 36 years teaching at Pierce. To keep his students involved in the subject, Larson uses whatever scheme that works best. He indulges himself in another life.
“Perhaps I would have been a stage actor,” comments Larson.
Selvia Awad, a mathematics major, is a full time student taking a class with Larson. According to her, his lectures are based on his own understanding of the subject.
“Whenever he sees a topic is getting boring, he will do something crazy to wake up the whole class,” said Awad.
Another student said that sometimes when the lecture gets dull, Larson tries to be funny.
“But, he never smiles when he tries to be funny,” said the student.
Larson realized he wanted to major in history at Occidental College and graduated with honors in 1961.
“History was everything. I was hooked and still am,” said Larson.
He then pursued graduate studies at the University of Oregon and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). At that time, interdisciplinary courses in western civilization were mandatory.
‘It wasn’t taught just by members of the history department, but by everyone.” explained Larson. “The literature of the past was taught by literature professors, music instructors taught the great composers, art professors taught art and architecture.”
He thinks of himself as a generalist in his historical tastes.
“In all of its many reincarnations and manifestations, not just European and American history, but also the histories of China, India, Japan and elsewhere.”
Commenting on many students’ fear of history, he said that the dates are what most students’ terror. He does not consider it to be a big deal.
“History is a story, or many stories, and sometimes it can be difficult and sometimes challenging,” he said. “But after all, we are all historians. We all have personal histories that we live with. A formal history class just broadens a bit and gets us out of ourselves more.”
During his journey at Pierce, which he calls to be “A Long and Winding Road,” Larson has noticed many changes. Diversity among the students in comparison to 1970 is the most prominent. All in all, the students’ have the same attitude toward memorizing historical dates.
“One change in teaching that is coming, if not already here, is greater use of technology,” said Larson. “I am still in the slides and video (well, now DVD) era, while some of my younger colleagues make much more use of power point. Obviously the internet has had a tremendous impact on both the instructors and the students.”
The use of technology by younger instructors is not thought of as generational style by Larson. Instead, he thinks that teaching is unique to the individual. He is of the opinion that there are good and not-so-good teachers then, now and in the future. Overall, he believes teachers should adore their subjects.
“If you like it, it is the greatest profession in the world,” said Larson. “If not, may be digging ditches would be better.”
Besides history, Larson is also passionate about art and architecture. He also shows enthusiasm towards hiking, particularly in Sierras. Among his many interests, gardening can also be counted as one.
“Reading almost anything is a passion. My mother once said that ‘Gene would never want to go to heaven if there were no books there,’ and she was right. I wouldn’t,” said Larson.
Larson, who calls his years at Pierce “generally smooth with wonderful vistas with the occasional rough spots and detours,” believes everybody should have some knowledge of society’s collective past.
“One of the great things about history is that there is always much more to learn,” said Larson. “It never ends.”