There’s more to associate professor of English Benjamin Saunders than his eccentric taste in fashion (which includes the occasional black top hat) and his admiration for the late Elvis Presley. With a love of literature and a witty approach to teaching, Saunders makes for a unique character around campus.
At first listen, one can hear his unmistakably thick Welsh accent and understand why people enjoy it when he speaks; occasionally he’ll throw in words from his native tongue or use descriptions like “bloody” or “brilliant” in the midst of his lectures. Merely referencing his name elicits dreamy smiles from some women and chuckles of recognition from some men. Saunders is somewhat of a paradox: old-fashioned in his enthusiasm for Shakespearean plays, but quite modern in the way that he connects classic themes to contemporary issues. But overall, people agree: He’s a man who loves to teach.
Michael Underwood, a student in Saunders’ seminar “Taking Super-Heroes Seriously,” said Saunders was the only possible professor who could teach such a course that analyzes Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
Underwood said Saunders’ background as a reader and his literary criticism credentials qualify him as an expert in the field of comic book analysis.
“That’s the best way to talk about pop culture materials, if you’re engaged with it personally. Otherwise you’re going to have an antiseptic distance,” said Underwood. He says he can tell that with Saunders, the passion is clearly there.
“This is very much a geek-friendly environment, while still being intellectually rigorous,” said Underwood.
“There aren’t many professors who do a lot of pop culture studies,” said Underwood. “So each one of them is a treasure.”
University freshman Matt Link took Saunders’ Shakespeare class in the fall as part of his Freshman Interest Group.
“He’s the best English teacher I’ve ever had, and I’m an English major,” said Link.
Link said within the first five minutes of class he could tell that Saunders was not only very funny but “genius” as well. Link was impressed by his diction and vocabulary.
“He clearly knows what he’s talking about,” Link said. “I’m pretty sure half the female members of the class were in love with him, also.”
One reason Saunders stands out, Link said, is because he is that one professor that no one complains about.
“He’s universally accepted,” Link said.
But in an e-mail interview the humble professor is not aware of such hype.
Upon hearing some of his students’ praise, he said he’s not trying to be falsely modest: “How wonderful, if it’s true!” he said.
Though he may have personally garnered attention, he emphasized the University is full of noteworthy professors and he’s constantly learning from them, since “just because you teach doesn’t mean you stop learning, after all.”
Saunders is full of passion and respect for his field of study, according to his students. They say it is evident that he’s in it for the love of teaching.
He called himself “the privileged custodian of an extraordinary legacy of verbal art,” and said, “It might not be an ideal job for everyone, but for me, it’s the best gig on earth.”
His own enthusiasm for his work emboldens his students and spurs their enthusiasm, he said, but he maintained his classes are successful because of the intrinsic values of the texts themselves – whether they’re Shakespeare, Elvis or Spiderman.
“He really makes you think,” said University freshman Lyle Hanf. “And we’d keep talking about it even after class. It’s weird, but I still remember stuff from his class.”
Freshman Nicole Vredenburg said normally it may be customary right after class to talk about how bad the professor is. With Saunders’ class, the students would continue talking – but this time, about the ideas and concepts from class.
Vredenburg and Hanf agreed that the most impressive feature on his long list is the fact he can take any discussion, go off on a seemingly random tangent about anything from Pink Floyd to the film “Swordfish,” and relate it perfectly back to the discussion.
Saunders said he is flattered by his apparent increasing popularity but hopes that students are genuinely interested in the study of English and literature. A cult of personality can be dangerous, he said, because personalities change with time.
As he ages and starts “growing more hair out of my ears and nose than my head,” he hopes his students will still respond to the works of art and literature presented in his classes so he can retain one of the great joys of his life – empowering students to learn.