2005 Accinno Teaching Award
Professor of Philosophy

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from providence magazine, summer 2005

Morgan awakens education

In Mr. Webster's dictionary, the word "awake" has a few meanings, each uniquely fitting for the 2005 recipient of the Accinno Faculty Teaching Award, Dr. Vance G. Morgan.

The tenured professor of philosophy uses the word "awaken" both in his written statement of teaching philosophy presented to the award committee and while discussing his approach to the classroom where he fulfills the vocation he says is his life's mission.

A "rouser"
The first of Webster's definitions of awake is, "To rouse from sleep." Morgan admits he sometimes wonders if he is qualified to teach the high caliber of students attending PC in recent years. Yet he also says even these gifted young men and women can have tempered enthusiasm for learning about themselves and their place in the world. That is where Morgan comes in: "Philosophy is not something I give them; it's something I awaken in them."

What he hopes to rouse in his students is much more profound than anything chalked on a board. "The desire to learn, to pursue the truth at all costs, cannot be taught. It can only be awakened by example, shown as a living reality," he wrote in his teaching statement. "That, I believe, is the greatest task of a teacher: to demonstrate, by his or her own example, the desirability and attraction, the unparalleled invigoration and joy, of being a lifetime learner and pursuer of truth."

After 11 years at PC and promotion to Department of Philosophy chairman-the first non-Catholic and only the second lay person to hold the post-Morgan believes his outlook aligns with the College's mission in their shared goals of educating the whole person, providing a moral education, and recognizing human dignity. Of the 22 different courses Morgan has taught, his favorite is an introductory class, General Ethics, because it offers the best opportunity to interest students in philosophy while giving them a framework for everyday existence. "Ethics is where philosophy and real life intersect," he said.

A "disturber"
Webster's second definition of awake encapsulates Morgan's classroom style: "To rouse from inactivity; activate; stir up." Quoting Spinoza's dictum that to teach philosophy one has to be a "disturber of the peace," he likens his undergraduates to rubber bands he tries to stretch as far as he can. No one gets off easy in his "active" classroom, where Morgan frequently meets student assertions with a simple challenge: Why?

"In philosophy, you have to earn the right to have an opinion," he tells them.

Having earned his opinion with a doctorate from Marquette University, publication of numerous articles and two books-including the forthcoming Weaving the World: Simone Weil on Science, Mathematics, and Love from University of Notre Dame Press-and presentations at academic conferences across the country, Morgan still does not consider himself the ultimate authority in his classroom. "The students are co-learners with me," he said, noting that even the ideas for his writings get hashed out in the "critical dialogues" he oversees.

A teacher
The third dictionary meaning of awake is, "To call forth." Morgan uses almost the same words when describing why he teaches: "I really feel this is something I've been called to do."

Receiving an award recognizing educational excellence is significant to Morgan because he sees it as an affirmation of his commitment to a life of teaching, which he values above all other activities. "I'm a teacher first," he said, adding that his passion is shared throughout the PC faculty ranks. "I'm continually impressed by the quality of teaching I'm surrounded by."

Morgan considers his efforts a success if he can "occasionally convince" his students of the inherent truth in a passage by English writer Vera Brittain: "There is an abiding beauty ... which may be appreciated by those who will see things as they are, and who will ask for no reward except to see. There is a high aesthetic pleasure in seeing the truth clear-eyed, and in not being afraid of things."

Yet before students can take pleasure in observing beauty and truth, they must awaken to them. As an educator, bringing about that awareness may be Morgan's real triumph.

 What his colleagues say . . .

"He is the consummate professor; one who 'professes' philosophy not as an archaic academic curiosity but as living thought. . . . I have learned from him and taught my own subject area, literature, with a deepened sense of what it means as part of a greater intellectual tradition."
    -- Dr. Rodney K. Delasanta, professor of English

"Vance Morgan has the unique ability to make accessible to students very complex philosophical ideas without distorting the original ideas. Students who often find philosophy 'unapproachable' become enamored of it when studying with Vance. . . . Vance's love for the classroom and students is a seductive combination. . . . he is passionate about what he teaches. Moreover, Vance has a deep respect for and understanding of the nature and purpose of Providence College, revealing this in numerous ways both inside and outside the classroom."
    -- Dr. Raymond L. Sickinger, professor of history and director of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service