HISTORY AT ST. THOMAS

“Dr. Bradley Cross, an Associate Professor in the Department of History at St. Thomas University, believes that his most successful courses are ones in which he draws attention to what the class, including himself, doesn’t know or might not be able to know. He explains that this approach provides “a common goal of asking good questions and sorting out possible pathways to learning the answers to these questions”. As a result he and his students learn as a collective through many non-traditional techniques and environments. Given the unplanned directions such an approach can take, teaching can entail a lot of risk but Brad Cross defines good teaching as a dynamic process that requires “a combination of preparation and intuitive response to the unexpected”.