As many students look forward to fresh courses next semester, some have seen new faces in front of their class on a regular basis. Several courses at the University aim to add a real-world perspective to academia by hosting visiting speakers from the professional world.
Stephen Wallenstein, professor of law, co-teaches an economics class entitled Global Capital Markets, which brings in Wall Street business leaders.
"The idea was... to offer students the exposure to different areas of the financial world so that they could make better-informed decisions about where they wanted to go," Wallenstein said. "[The course gives them the chance] to have exposure to some of the best minds on Wall Street."
The course is a more practical look at how economics apply to financial markets, Wallenstein said, with speakers covering topics such as equity, derivatives and mergers and acquisitions.
"It's one of the most amazing courses at Duke," senior Anupam Pradhan said. "It's the only class you get a chance to meet the people in the markets."
For example, J. William McMahon, a managing director of Goldman Sachs, visited the class Nov. 19 and spoke about risk in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
"I don't think that there's a lot of classes that really prepare you for the types of problems that are out there," junior Justin Baier said. "It's just kind of nice to feel like [these professionals] have an interest in Duke as a school."
William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, said Wallenstein's course is an example of using guest speakers well, and that incorporating speakers into classes must be done judiciously.
"The value of guest speakers largely depends on how the instructor fits the expertise of the guests into the subject matter," Chafe wrote in an e-mail. "I know that [this course does] an excellent job of this, bringing the expertise of outside speakers into a vital, ongoing discussion about issues of great importance."
Similarly structured classes exist in other departments, although some have less of a professional focus; for example, David McClay, professor of biology, taught a seminar about developmental biology that frequently featured specialists presenting their research papers.
"The whole idea is to bring graduates and undergraduates up to the cutting edge in research," McClay said. "The great thing is to appreciate how the research professor works.... Unlike courses where the material is two to three years out of date, this is as recent as you can get."
In McClay's class, before the arrival of the speaker, the class went through a couple of papers the speaker provided. The speaker then gave a public lecture describing his work, followed by a discussion with the students in the course.
"McClay's a great teacher. He definitely made it interesting, and he challenged us to critically analyze the research," said senior Lisa Berg, who took the course last spring. "I think it's useful for undergraduates to have such close interaction with a wide variety of influential scientists."
Another professor who invites guest speakers to her courses is Susan Tifft, Patterson professor of the practice of public policy. A former Time magazine reporter, Tifft is teaching courses this semester about investigative journalism and ethics in journalism.
"What I try to do is to give students a firm foundation in the fundamental ethical, logistical and technical problems journalists face," Tifft said.
Like McClay's course, students are given background information on the speakers and their work before they come to talk.
"You're able to ask [the speakers] questions. They give you little tidbits you wouldn't be able to get [otherwise]," said sophomore Jenny Osterhout. "How they started out is really the most interesting thing."
Senior Brad Balukjian decided to sign up for Tifft's course after hearing her talk when she was a guest speaker in his magazine journalism course.
"I think that journalism is a field where it is really appropriate to bring [speakers] into the classroom," Balukjian said. "You have to have a variety of thought and opinions from people who actually do journalism."
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