MIT History Professor Pauline Maier makes the MIT homepage today with her treatise on the formation of the Constitution of United States.

Follow the story here! http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/constitution-1203.html

Professor Maier taught me The American Revolution last semester, and she is an absolutely fascinating speaker. She has done decades of research on colonial United States up to the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the Constitution, and yet she was willing to sit down with the six of us - relative novices in matters relating to the formation of the United States - for three hours every week and pore through primary documents with us and patiently explain to us various intricacies (after having let us have a crack at it first) of the same documents that she had probably read and re-read easily over several dozen times.

To Professor Maier, teaching is not a one-way street. I believe she thinks that she would have failed as an instructor if we are not able to contribute our opinions and tell her what the documents meant for ourselves, even if she gave the most eloquent and expressive lecture. We, being MIT undergrads, are often so swamped with work from our technical classes that - I will candidly admit - we may not be the most well-prepared when it comes to class discussions on the documents and pamphlets that we ought to have read the previous night. This easily causes the utterance of a multitude of platitudes when Professor Maier calls on us to explain the significance of certain passages, but she is never impatient with us - in fact, she simply probes deeper in her questions and gets us to think like a historian should, even on-the-spot if necessary.

Professor Maier is a master historian, but she is not jealous of her art. In fact, she seeks to instill in her students an appreciation of history and a deeper understanding of the echoes and repercussions of these events that happened over two centuries ago. Professor Maier teaches history in the same manner that my grandmother tells me stories of how she evacuated from China with my grandfather sixty years ago in the wake of the Chinese Civil War - Professor Maier is a storyteller, and although she is often fond of stating how she enjoys teaching MIT undergrads because we are so astute and sharp in our logical and reasoning skills, she also deserves half the credit because she allows us to see history as it happened, as if she was the proverbial fly on the wall at Independence Hall.

I find it amazing that American Revolution class is attended by a mere six undergraduate students, but I guess all the power to us, because we get Professor Maier's undivided attention for so long? ;)

I wish to offer my congratulations to Professor Maier for her work, and MIT HISTORY IS AWESOME! :D

Further Links

Amazon Page
Compilation of Critical Reviews for Professor Maier's Work
Professor Maier's Biography
MIT History!

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Wait, what? We offer history courses?

Posted by: Daniel '12 on December 4, 2010

MIT is really apart in the world of top high schools ! This is probably why some many of French students who choose to study abroad apply there.

Posted by: Badges personnalisés on December 4, 2010

Wow, she sounds really cool. I hope she sees this, I'm sure she'll be really flattered

I have a great high school history teacher, I'm really grateful for his awesome teaching. Always listens to our ideas, even if we disagree with him.

Posted by: 0 on December 4, 2010

transMITting knowledge... shes a great instructor

Posted by: mitto mittere misi missus on December 5, 2010

MIT should probably stick to what it's best at, engineering courses. Leave the worthless history classes to lame Harvard students.

Posted by: Anonymous on December 7, 2010

^ Of course everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, but IMO, "leave the worthless history classes to lame Harvard students," is precisely the kind of backward, self-limiting thinking that HYP students make fun of MIT students for (or for that matter, the heart of the sentiment conveyed in the punch lines of many engineering jokes).

I'm aware I attend an institution where I'm surrounded with students that would prefer to never see a class containing English text again, but I see no fault in MIT expanding to become a leader in both fields.

Posted by: oasis '11 on December 8, 2010

Hahahah lol.
History is incredible subject and this professor is an AMAZING teacher. I'm glad that the students are able to learn to the full extent to what history has to offer since, obviously, it is important for one to know one's history.

Posted by: Kalvin Ogbuefi on December 8, 2010

Engineering + Classics is Win!

Not every science/engineer major hates Literature!!

Posted by: Publius Ovidius Naso on December 9, 2010

Ah, I love reading your blog. It never gets old. =D I never did apply to MIT, but I still like reading all the blogs. Are you still going to blog after college?

Which school in Taiwan are you from btw? I'm from one of the schools in Hsinchu.

Posted by: Grace on December 11, 2010

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