Featured, On Campus - by Lily Q on Thursday, February 25, 2010 13:15 - 6 Comments - 925 views
Stephen Duncombe, arguably Gallatin’s most popular professor, was recruited to be the co-director of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program and accepted the job a week and a half ago. He’ll be finishing out this semester at NYU before leaving to replace MIT’s academic badass Henry Jenkins, a role that Duncombe admits is “a bit daunting.”
Those of you who know Professor Duncombe will understand how much this sucks. In my almost three years at NYU, Duncombe’s classes have been far and away the best I’ve taken. Aside from being crazy smart, he keeps his commentary socially relevant, calls out bullshitting and is a relentlessly snazzy dresser with a suspender collection that could inspire all of Williamsburg to salivate. Add to that his 4.8 overall score and chili pepper hotness points on Rate My Professor and his departure starts to feel a little like the beginning of the end.
Try though we might to convince ourselves that NYU is a “New Ivy,” losing great teachers to more prestigious institutions serves as a reminder that the whole “New Ivy” thing doesn’t mean much. In truth, we stand little chance against the MITs of the academic world. But hey, they’ll have carpal tunnel from programming while we’re still joint pain-free and dancing at 3am.
Good luck at MIT, Professor Duncombe. You will be missed.
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6 Comments
Kristin Zemke
That really is unfortunate. I’ve been waiting to actually take one of his classes and I thought that by senior year I’d actually get in. Now he’ll be at MIT. Unfair.
Chris Tell
Uh, a nobel laureate, Andrew Spence, just left Stanford for NYU. You win some you lose some.
Cameron Farrell
Steve is the greatest teacher I’ve ever had. I’ve never seen another professor with his ability to come down to the level of his students, empower them to feel confident in the multiplicity of their beliefs, and invigorate them with the passion to act outside the classroom. But he is more than just an amazing individual; he is a mind, one which inspires students to push themselves in order to engage with him further. To many of us, Steve encompasses the original spirit and rigor of Gallatin. Those of us who know him will miss him, but I think everyone will sense his loss in the energy of the community. Undoubtedly, Gallatin will never be the same.
Parker Higgins
Also the professor he’s replacing, Henry Jenkins, left MIT for USC. USC is a great school but not really one of the MITs of the academic world. I don’t think that your analysis is right on here.
That said, it’s a real bummer he’s leaving, as he is a great professor. This is a real score for MIT.
Sheila Germain
The quality doesn’t get much better than Stephen Duncombe. He will be greatly missed at NYU and a critical void is in need of filling. Good luck to Stephen.
WHAT?! NO!
This seriously ruined the rest of my day. I was ridiculously excited about finally getting to take one of his media classes as a senior.