Reach for the stars, or take their classes

One of the most exciting aspects of taking classes at Yale is the chance to learn from professors who are world-renowned in their fields. As you enter the first weeks of the term and begin to "shop around," you are bound to come upon classes in which the teacher is better known than his or her subject material.

Students refer to some of these classes by the professor's name. So, if people tell you they're taking a "Bloom seminar," they're not talking about some botany class, but a class taught by Harold Bloom, one of the foremost literary scholars and critics in the world. Bloom has written dozens of books and essays, among them the widely debated The Western Canon.

Within the English and Literature department lies a host of other star professors. Many poets have probably heard of John Hollander, a Pulitzer prize-winning poet and critic. His book Rhyme's Reason has become a staple of English 125, an introductory poetry class.

Yale's History department, boasting one of the best reputations in the nation, offers students the chance to learn from pre-eminent scholars. Jonathan Spence, SY '61, GRD '65, a respected and widely acclaimed authority on modern Chinese history, routinely draws huge lecture crowds. His The Search for Modern China became a nationwide bestseller. Gaddis Smith, PC '54, GRD '61, and Paul Kennedy also have top flight reputations in their field. Smith, who specializes in Cold War history, was a friend of President Harry Truman's Secretary of State, Dean Acheson. Kennedy penned the international bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.

While the History of Art department may not be as large as the History department, it still features its own stars. Professor Emeritus Vincent Scully, JE '40, GRD '49, who teaches an introductory art history course, has written many books on architecture. His legendary textbook Architecture: The Natural and the Man-made, is one of the authoritative works on the subject. The department also boasts Jerome Pollit, BK '57, a scholar of classical Greek art.

For those of you more interested in the language of numbers, mathematics definitely has stand-out professors. Although the name Serge Lang may not sound familiar, you probably have spent many hours plowing through any one of his calculus textbooks, which are widely used in introductory college and high school courses. Yale is also lucky to have Benoit Mendelbroit, "the father of fractals," who has pioneered world-renowned mathematical work.

The science department also sports its share of wünder profs. One notable biology professor is Sidney Altman, who earned the Nobel Prize in 1989 for his work on the active role of RNA in chemical reactions.

The "softer" sciences have their own famed profs as well. Psychology professor Edward Ziegler developed HeadStart, a program that provides underprivileged pre-school children with supplemental education to ensure that they are prepared to enter kindergarten. Any of you with little Barney-crazed siblings may be interested in professors James or Dorothy Singer, who have recently conducted studies on the influence of that happy purple dinosaur on children.

Two economics professors worth mentioning are James Tobin and William Nordhaus, CC '63. Professor Emeritus and Nobel Prize winner Tobin is one of the leading Keynesian economists and former adviser to the Johnson Administration, while Nordhaus served as an economic advisor to Jimmy Carter.

The philosophy department can also brag about its big names. Mention the 18th century German philosopher Leibniz, and the name Robert Adams will probably come up--he is perhaps Leibniz's foremost critic Professor Alan Wood is a major critic of Kantian thought.

Keep in mind that there are also some professors who haven't yet become well-known in the world, but are famous at Yale for their pure teaching ability. Psychology professor Peter Salovey attracts hundreds of students to his Intro Psych class with his humorous and well-organized lectures, while John Rogers has made a name for himself teaching English poetry.

All of these professors, by the way, teach undergraduate courses and keep regular office hours. So, if you want to ask about your Barney obsession with James or Dorothy Singer, discuss your take on monads with Robert Adams, or just talk Shakespeare with Harold Bloom himself, you can.

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