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Renaissance Man Voted Professor of the Year
Professor Alan Farmer moves quickly. He came to Ohio State just last year from grad school at Columbia, in New York City, and has already been voted Undergraduate Professor of the Year by his students.
Professor Farmer grew up in Morristown, New Jersey, which is mentioned in one of his favorite Sopranos episodes and is shown in the Cyndi Lauper video, "Time After Time." He teaches his classes in a more open-ended discussion format, as opposed to an hour-and-a-half of running lecture. Professor Farmer "loves his students," and after spending just a few minutes with him, you begin to see a very approachable and down-to-earth Professor of the Year. He is addicted to NetFlix’s amazing selection of videos and to reading internet blogs, which he of course considers research. Professor Farmer’s specialty is Renaissance Literature, and he is actively involved in The Renaissance Reading Group and The History of the Book Group. He also recently created the Renaissance Dissertation Seminar, a group that provides discussion and feedback to grad students working on articles and dissertations. Professor Farmer teaches four classes a year, two during fall quarter, and two in the winter. If you are interested in meeting this reigning Professor of the Year, our advice is to sign up for English 520.01 next quarter, and get caught up on your Shakespeare. Or, perhaps you are a grad student? Professor Farmer will also teach English 980 in the winter, Bibliography and Method, in which students will study books as objects. Either way, you are sure to be in for an interesting intellectual ride.
