Stephen Long
In Stephen Long’s political science and international relations classes, setting up the classroom as a collaborative space driven by curiosity, is a key part of the first few weeks. “I try to get my students to feel like they’re part of the experience,” he says. “I like to think of us as being in a circle around a subject, rather than me as the fount of knowledge with them lined up in front of me to receive it. We’re all looking at the subject together. Yes, I know more about it, but my main job is to get them curious about it and to draw out some of the knowledge they already have.”
For the future politicians, lawmakers, and policy analysts in his class, Long’s conversational style is a subtle lesson on how to approach the dialogue-driven world of politics. Long attempts to model this high-level civil discourse with an emphasis on respect for differing opinions and evidence-backed statements. “Faculty expect students to make arguments that have evidence behind them, to treat those sources honestly, and not cherry-pick parts that support their argument,” he says. In this, too, the students teach each other. “Some students begin the class speaking from a place of personal conviction, but not much evidence. As they realize that they’re not being effective, they start to emulate the people who are speaking in a more convincing, analytical way.” As the semester progresses, class discussions gradually shift from emotional speeches to thought-provoking conversations rooted in evidence and respect for the opposition.
Civil discourse isn’t the only model of communication Long presents to his students. He’s known for trying any tool at his disposal that can add to the classroom experience. “I don’t do it just for the technology,” he says. “I use technology to achieve something in the classroom I can’t achieve in other ways.”
In his upper-level classes, Long looks to Skype to bring in guest speakers, such as policy analysts from the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations. “Students like using Skype because they can see the person on the other side, and the person can see the classroom,” Long says. “They just raise their hand and the speaker calls on them. Speakers give a short talk, then take questions, not just about the topic, but also about career paths. As a full-time academic, I don’t know what you need to do to be a high-level policy analyst, but they do, so I try to take advantage of that.”
Another area of interest for Long is video production. For his recent First-Year Seminar, he produced a video that has the effect of letting students look over his shoulder as he goes through the process of reading a scholarly journal article and writing a five-page paper—all while battling the typical distractions of Facebook and messages from friends.
“I found that students were at very different levels in their first year, and trying to teach the mechanics and style of good writing in the classroom was so time-consuming that we would never get to the actual substantive topics,” Long says. “The video makes that connection between reading the article and writing the paper, more so than just having a set of typed guidelines on what a paper should have in it. I put it on the web for them to see any time during the semester, and they can watch it at their own pace and revisit it later in the semester. It’s providing something that I cannot recreate in class—a personalized, one-on-one tutorial on academic writing without any pressure of evaluation.”
No matter the format, Long’s personality and humor remain at the forefront. “As a teacher, you have to bring your whole self into the classroom and not try to play a role like you’re on stage,” he says. “If you’re really interested in discussion and that’s your style, then focus on that. If you’re not a natural lecturer, don’t be heavy on lecture. Students can tell right away if you’re not teaching in a way that’s consistent with who you really are.”