April 10, 2024
Teaching in the Fifty and Better (FAB) program
Submitted by Cliff Wilcox
I am Cliff Wilcox, a historian who focuses on American culture and ideas as well as Jewish studies. I have been teaching in the CLU – FAB program for almost a year, and I am thrilled to be part of this vibrant community. I enjoy the part-time role at CLU-FAB, as I am able to also pursue my “day job” as Director of Education and Operations at Temple Beth Torah in Ventura, CA. Teaching in the CLU-FAB program offers me the opportunity to work with extraordinary students – lifelong learners from a variety of backgrounds, and they always keep me on my toes. In the course I taught just recently, The American Civil War: History and Meaning, my presentations for each class session were enlivened by class members’ stories of trips to Civil War monuments and battlefields, the meaning of monuments in today’s political landscape, and discussion of the many books on the Civil War that class members were reading at the time. What impressed me the most was the civility that characterized class discussion – people demonstrated both respect for and interest in the comments and opinions of others and were not speaking simply to hear themselves talk. I truly look forward to each class I teach at CLU-FAB, both for the intellectual challenge of preparing the course and also for the shared experience of presenting it to the class members.