Faculty Profiles - UW Evening Degree Program

Evening Degree Program

Faculty Profiles: Robert Abrams

Robert Abrams, an associate professor with the UW English department, is a New Yorker at heart. As such, he says, he believes in direct talk. So it's no surprise that when he was first asked to teach American literature in the Evening Degree, he didn't exactly rush to the new assignment.

Robert Abrams

"I was a little bit miffed and I didn't want to teach at night," Abrams said. "But my experience was so positive. I liked it."
"I liked the students. I thought it was a real mixture," Abrams said. "A lot of the students were coming back to school. They had had a little bit more maturity, and a lot of experience. They struck me as more motivated."

That was about ten years ago. Abrams is still teaching evening degree in addition to his regular UW teaching duties. And the motivation is still the students - and their unique situations.

"Evening degree students are more committed and serious. On the other side of the coin, they have many other commitments. They are adults."

Abrams knows he can't just lecture an audience of working adults, or he'd lose a few to sleep. He noticed evening degree students respond better to discussion, and are less shy about interrupting a lecture to ask a question, so he tweaks his teaching style to match theirs.

He also enjoys the diversity of backgrounds students bring to class, and encourages them to use those experiences in their study. He recalls a student, a New Orleans police detective who was in Seattle for an extended investigation. The detective, an expert in forensics, pointed out that detective work is a lot like poetry, in that it is based on looking beyond the obvious. The student applied that skill to his analysis of American poetry, with great results.

Abrams has an interesting background himself. He describes himself as "a skier of intermediate abilities, a drinker of numerous cups of coffee, and an avid filmgoer." Though he is an expert on Herman Melville and 19th century American literature, he lived in France and studied French literature at the Universite de Caen in Normandy. He also worked as an instructor in the army, while serving in the Medical Service Corps.

As mentioned, he is "a New Yorker, not a Northwesterner. Part of my background is saying what I feel and being upfront."

So how does he feel these days about taking on an Evening Degree class?

"Now, I volunteer for it," he said.