History teacher personifies COM culture
Stephanie Rinker
Issue date: 5/16/05 Section: A&E
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Victor Minasian describes meeting a short, shy man many years ago who was a German cleric. He ran into him a handful of times at concerts in Germany. After a few short conversations, he came to connect with him on their passion for music. This shy man Minasian met is the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI.
Minasian uses yarns like that to spice up his history lectures at the College of Marin. "History provides us with the opportunity to know ourselves collectively." With history, Minasian feels we are able to explore and understand how human beings operate from the past. "How they lived and addressed their challenges can help us overcome challenges in the future," he said.
Minasian feels history is part of a well-rounded education. "If you don't know where you've been, you don't know were you are or where you are going in the future and you are likely to face those same challenges in the future," he said.
He has found that students enter history classes not enthused. Minasian believes that this is perhaps due to a poor high school experience many students have.
"They then discover 'this is fun' and they gain more of what history is all about. It's not the meaningless memorization of names and dates," he said. "Rather it's get the larger context. They understand what that date really means."
Much of the current national administration is discussed in Minasian's classes. "There is a degree of ignorance that emanates from Washington D.C.," he said. "I find this horrifying and feel D.C. needs to come to terms with the larger history."
Minasian said that the present administration has already taken the country across some extremely troublesome paths. "The Iraqi war for example. I think they knew what they wanted to get into," he said. "The Bush Administration had on its agenda to address issues that the former Bush Administration didn't. They became obsessed with eliminating Saddam Hussein. They pursued him even though Hussein was not directly related to 9/11," he said. "Neither were Iraqis. Yet the Bush Administration used the 9/11 tragedy as an excuse to pursue the Saddam Hussein regime and the war against Iraq."
Minasian uses yarns like that to spice up his history lectures at the College of Marin. "History provides us with the opportunity to know ourselves collectively." With history, Minasian feels we are able to explore and understand how human beings operate from the past. "How they lived and addressed their challenges can help us overcome challenges in the future," he said.
Minasian feels history is part of a well-rounded education. "If you don't know where you've been, you don't know were you are or where you are going in the future and you are likely to face those same challenges in the future," he said.
He has found that students enter history classes not enthused. Minasian believes that this is perhaps due to a poor high school experience many students have.
"They then discover 'this is fun' and they gain more of what history is all about. It's not the meaningless memorization of names and dates," he said. "Rather it's get the larger context. They understand what that date really means."
Much of the current national administration is discussed in Minasian's classes. "There is a degree of ignorance that emanates from Washington D.C.," he said. "I find this horrifying and feel D.C. needs to come to terms with the larger history."
Minasian said that the present administration has already taken the country across some extremely troublesome paths. "The Iraqi war for example. I think they knew what they wanted to get into," he said. "The Bush Administration had on its agenda to address issues that the former Bush Administration didn't. They became obsessed with eliminating Saddam Hussein. They pursued him even though Hussein was not directly related to 9/11," he said. "Neither were Iraqis. Yet the Bush Administration used the 9/11 tragedy as an excuse to pursue the Saddam Hussein regime and the war against Iraq."