TL;DR
The author argues that bad humanities teaching either bores students with trivia, mocks the classics, or fawns over mediocre texts, while good teaching means taking great works seriously.
The author arrived at college at seventeen, full of passion for the humanities, believing books could change the world. But that enthusiasm was soon doused by several kinds of professors.
Turning classics into ciphers
The first kind can make any masterpiece duller than a government job. They drown in scholarly minutiae, turning spun gold into dross. The author later took accounting and statistics and found them engaging — the problem was never the subject, but the teacher.
Turning class into stand-up
The second kind jokes around, mocking the very books students are meant to read. One professor delivered a long raunchy monologue on phallic symbols in Alice in Wonderland; another teaching Shakespeare only wanted to talk about kinky sex. The author's view: if you can't take a book seriously, you shouldn't teach it.
Worshipping rubbish
The third kind is serious, but lavishes care on the most banal texts. They praise Carver's story about lowlifes eating Jello in a trailer park, or force students to bow before jargon-filled criticism. The author's silent motto: less Stanley Fish, more wrapping fish.
Good professors are simple to describe: they seek out the greatest works, take them seriously, and believe in their transformative power. The author tried to do the same when he taught. Ironically, this serious study of Western culture now thrives in China — Nolan was even impressed by a Chinese scholar's interview.
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