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view . spring2015
Teaching is aperformance inmanyways, says history
professor RobertNelson,who still looks back fondlyonhis
days inhigh school drama class. “It’s draining in theway
that dramaused tobedraining,”he says. “Soyou’re tired
at the endof aperformance, but it’s really fun.”
Nelson, who joined the university in 2005, found career
inspiration inhisGrade 12history teacher. “I likedhistory theway
boys do fromplayingWWII-basedboard games andDungeons and
Dragons. Butmy interest really took off when I had an incredible
Grade 12history teacher.”
Althoughhis fatherwas an elementary school principal, Nelson
hadn’t applied the idea of teaching tohimself until after he’d earned
hisBA andMA andwas on track for his PhD. “Teachingwas a
serious occupationbut I loveddrama andperformance.”
Once he decided that hewanted to teach at the university level,
however, Nelson soon came to the happy conclusion that teaching
was simply another formof performance for a paid audience.
“In 2005, I foundmyself in front of 200 students and I usedmy
drama background to showmy enthusiasm for the subject and really
connectwith them.”
His approach to graduate-level teaching ismarkedlydifferent.
“I don’t get to ‘ham it up’,” he says. “It’s eight people around
a seminar table. That’s been themuchharder evolution inmy
teaching. I had to learnhow to ask questions that invitemore than
a straight answer. One thatmade them thinkmore deeply.”
“At that level, youhave to let the students take over.
The ultimate goal is todisappear from the room. They talk to each
other andnot back and forth tome.”
Nelson is the recipient of several teaching awards.
The accolades of current and former students and colleagues
earnedhim the 2014Alumni AssociationAward forDistinguished
Contributions toUniversityTeaching.
“Hiswelcoming and enthusiastic demeanour sets him apart
fromhis colleagues,”wrote one nominator. “If tobe truly an
extraordinary teacher youmust have something special, something
personal, something awee bit extra, thenDr. Nelson eminently
qualifies.”
InNovember 2014, hewas amonghonourees at theUWindsor
Celebrationof TeachingExcellence, hostedby theOffice of the
Provost and theCentre for Teaching andLearning.
Nelson’s research, begunwhile a doctoral student at the
Universityof Cambridge, focuses onModernEuropean cultural
history, Germanhistory, TheFirstWorldWar, and colonialism.
Hewas cited as an ”emerging scholar” at theUniversity’s
Celebrationof Excellence inResearch, Scholarship andCreative
ActivityAwards inMarch2014—alongwithwifeKimNelson,
aUWindsor documentaryfilmmaker andprofessor in the School
of CreativeArts.
Awell-known “foodie,”Nelsondevours Saveur, a gourmet
food, wine and travelmagazine. He has cookedmore than
1,000of its recipes. “Foodhas somuch todowith culture and
history, so cooking a recipe from a country like Senegal, for
instance, can really enhance your understandingof a place,
even if you’ve never been there.”
It’s this enthusiasm that definesNelson’s approach to teaching.
“I think it’s incredibly important formy students tounderstand their
history andwhy theworld is theway it is today. Itwill helpmake
good citizens of them.”
ROBERT NELSON, HISTORY
