Edward Mendelson
Edward Mendelson is the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities. He teaches English and Comparative Literature and is the literary executor of the Estate of W.H. Auden.
His wife, Cheryl Mendelson, is a novelist who teaches at Barnard.
Review
He is an AMAZING professor, especially if you are lucky enough to get him for the first semester of Literature Humanities which he has taught many times. His philosophy includes actively looking for reasons to give students good grades, encouraging honesty (whether that means saying that you think a book is bullshit or admitting that you haven't done any of the readings) and giving a "Low-Anxiety Final Exam" consisting of one essay and ten "identifications" which can be "Pericles Funeral Oration" or "Briseus". Your task is to only name the book, but if you can't remember the title, the instructions inform the test taker that they can describe the book, saying for Odysseus "the one about the man trying to go home". He will also completely halt his lecture if he thinks you're texting in class, emailing in class, or talking in class, and stare at you until he thinks you've stopped.
Although he's undeniably brilliant, watch out if you don't agree with the Edward Mendelson Worldview. He also tends to give in to his practiced lecture personality a little too much. Mendelson's students tend to divide pretty severely into two camps: those who hero worship and those tempted to throw a book at his head. It's a gamble.
