The Hin-Jew

When I write, it helps to post things on here...I get a better sense of what its like when its out in the open, and of course I dig any feedback...This is supposed to go in the Government Department Newsletter for my teacher and boss...

Forty one long revolutions around the sun marks the end of Professor of Government Steven Hoffmann’s full-time teaching career at Skidmore College. As of the fall of 2008, Professor Hoffmann will migrate to half-time duty informing the bright minds of Skidmore on the current political challenges we face in our world.

Since my first semester at Skidmore, I have had the privilege of learning with the man whose career has been to say the least, outstanding. What Professor Hoffmann brings to the Department is not only enormous experience and expertise, but brilliant and inspiring character that holds true in the face of the seemingly endless torrent of atrocities and ambiguities in world politics. I often find it difficult to imagine four more seconds of such mind-grinding work, let alone four decades, and yet I see Steve bright eyed and smiling nearly every day he’s on the job.

Through my studies one thing I have been able to conclude is that the increasing level of complexity in the world is strangely met by a similarly complex level of beauty. For example one can sign onto the Wikipedia (an online encyclopedia authored by users all around the world) and find an image graphing the World Wide Web. What they will find is a staggeringly intricate picture not unlike something taken from the Hubble Telescope. For me, this is something along the lines of when people first caught a glimpse of our beautiful planet from space. It contains a sort of positive shock-value; a testament to our limitless imagination.

I asked Professor Hoffmann what he hoped his students would take away from his class apart from the standard plethora of information he offers and after a moment he replied: “The ability to have their writing and thinking reflect the complexity they will run into, the complexity that is out there.” Taking one of his classes, whether it is “Military and Political Lessons from WWII” or “What the United States Does Wrong in the World: Views from India and Answers from Washington”, always propels me into the unyielding intricacies while his delivery, his scholarship, and his life often seal the beauty.

I laugh sometimes when he asks me to perform an incredibly easy task such as uploading a syllabus to the Web or when I catch him typing something with only two fingers, but I am at the same time in complete awe of his perseverance. Covering and teaching topics like the Middle East and foreign policy, subjects unfortunately foreign to many Americans, is not an easy task for any, and perhaps as significant as being on the front lines.

When I asked Professor Hoffmann what advice he could offer in avoiding some of the mistakes we find ourselves with today he noted, “Don’t elect people of strong ideological positions. Find problem solvers.” I hate to sound like a tech-freak, but I can see this wisdom in the image of the web. The amalgamation of dots and colors and lines, to me gives no indication of ideology, but rather a solidification of our inherent connectedness, our ceaseless dependence, and our uncompromising diversity.

Thank you very much Professor Hoffman for holding out until I got here, it has been a pleasure and I wish you well.