In Class with Anderson Cooper

In the freshman class I'm teaching, we are currently reading "Dispatches from the Edge," by Anderson Cooper. I'm enjoying reading the book and so far the students (none of whom has ever watched Anderson Cooper 360) are enjoying it too.

In our last class, the topic was the Asian Tsunami of 2004. Even though this event is less than 3 years old, it was surprising how little the students knew about it. After the class discussion that day, many commented that they didn't realize the extent of the disaster (over 200,000 dead). In fact, many of them weren't even completely aware what a tsunami was, so I spent time with a little science lesson describing it and played a CNN clip with Anderson Cooper reporting on the disaster.

Cooper has covered a lot of tragedies, and he's had his own share of tragedies in his life. His dad died at age 53 when Anderson was only 11. His older brother, Carter, died by jumping off the balcony of their 14th floor apartment . . .as his mother watched. His mother, by the way, is Gloria Vanderbilt.

I just didn't know all that about him. He's a very good writer, and thus far, the students have been pleasantly surprised at how much they've liked the book. This generation of student does not read a whole lot, so getting them to read an entire book will be an accomplishment in and of itself. Next up, we'll talk about Iraq and the siege of Saravejo.