Professor Profile: David Bates
A longtime Bucks professor who tries to teach his students to see things as they really are
JOHN MACDONALD
Issue date: 2/23/10 Section: Campus News
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Professor David Bates, from
the Department of Language
and English, is an educator
with something very important
to teach no matter what
your major: to think for
yourself and see things as
they really are. The view of
Ashley Wunder, a History
Major from Levittown is
typical: "His class really
opens your eyes and puts
everyday life into a different
perspective." She added,
"I've been lucky to have
taken courses taught by
many really brilliant and
inspiring teachers, but I've
taken two courses with Prof
Bates and he has always
been my favorite."
The theme that one learns
a lot about life is found in
many of the favorable
reviews by former students
found on
RateMyProfessor.com. For
instance, a comment, posted
on Feb. 2, 2009, reads:
"Bates was the most influential
professor I have ever
had. I had him for literature
and he opened up my mind
on so many levels. To this
day I take the lessons he
taught us in class and use
them on a daily basis."
Bates currently teaches
writing and composition
courses at Bucks. One reason
that students get so
much out of his writing and
composition classes is that
Bates has an exceptionally
broad scope of knowledge to
draw from, with BAs in
History and Literature (
Virginia Commonwealth
University and George
Mason University, respectively),
MAs in History,
Education, and Literature (
The University of Florida (a
dual major in History and
Education), and Miami
University), and an expected
doctorate in American
Studies from The University
of Texas, where he will be
defending his dissertation
and expects to receive his
PhD. this Spring.
In a career that spans 30-
some years, Bates has taught
in a variety of disciplines:
"math, literature, composition,
history, social psychology,
mythology, and probably
several other topics..."
He has taught in the ghettoes
of Cincinnati, in
Eastern Connecticut (where "45 percent of the community
lived on welfare"), and in
universities such as The
University of Texas, The
University of Florida, Miami
University, and Temple
University. He also teaches
"short seminars for my peers
on Lewis Mumford (his philosophy),
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Russian Wives
posted 3/20/10 @ 11:52 PM EST
Thank you for writing the article, I am very pleased with how it came out.
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