Even in classes with 60 or more students, Wesley Kort's classroom remains intimate. The Department of Religion professor, mindful of the axiom "lecture imposes; discussion empowers," creates a rhythm of lecture and discussion that enhances both forms of learning.
"I don't think we know things only by distancing ourselves from or above them, but by opening ourselves to them," Kort said.
Kort recently received the Richard K. Lublin Teaching Award which, along with the Outstanding Professor Award bestowed on him 40 years earlier, frames his teaching career at Duke. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, he has written nine books and many more articles, and been invited to give numerous lectures across the United States and around the world. Since joining the Duke faculty in 1965, he has served in several administrative posts, including associate provost, associate dean of Trinity College, and chair of his department.
"I've never swerved from my decision to pursue academia," he said. "There's not a part of my position that I don't enjoy."
Kort grew up in Hoboken, N.J., in financially strapped circumstances after his father died when Kort, the youngest of four children, was eight. His mother, who raised the family on her own, had little time to coddle each child. But Kort, encouraged by teachers, followed his curiosity to Calvin College and Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich., and then to the University of Chicago for a doctorate.
As he completed his dissertation, he accepted a temporary appointment to teach at Princeton University. He was welcomed into a religious studies department by colleagues who were enthusiastic about their work, and he heard brilliant lecturers.
"They were very encouraging; that set the tone," he said.
He saw that lectures didn't have to be "dry and authoritarian and an imposition," he said, and he observed the efficacy of the precept system that mixed in small group discussions to reflect on the lectures. Two years later, he brought that rhythm to his appointment at Duke, which took him south of Washington, D.C., for the first time in his life.
Almost from the start, Kort gained a reputation for a rigorous but hospitable class environment. Years later, in recommending him for a teaching award, one student commented not only on his "candor, approachable nature, and passion for his subject," but on the way Kort pushed students "to grow as academics, teaching us how to read, think, and debate more effectively the harder questions we encountered."
"I try to create an interactive situation, even in a large class," Kort said. "I like to get right in front of students, stare them down and talk directly to them. They talk directly to one another and to me. We build a spirit of joint enterprise."
Kort said he appreciates the challenge of the kind of questions that students ask; in turn, students open up in class because Kort can turn any question or comment into a teachable moment.
"I try to convey the possibility that there's something outside ourselves that deserves our attention and respect."
A self-effacing man, Kort implied that his students should take credit for his success as a teacher.
"They're motivated, responsive, resourceful," he said. "If I can't make things clear to these students, who are intelligent and curious, then there is something wrong with my understanding of what I'm talking about."