2008 Woodie Awards
Memories of Kaitlin Mahr
Compiled by the Lawrentian Staff
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
Early in my second term teaching at Lawrence, Kaitlin came up to me in front of our Major British Writers class and announced, "Mr. Kaplin, I'd like to present you with a chocolate vagina." I heard a few gasps (one of which may have been my own), and Kaitlin smiled politely and returned to her seat. Only after a purposeful delay did she explain that the chocolate was designed to promote V-Day and the upcoming performance of "The Vagina Monologues," in which she was involved. Our class then spent a few minutes discussing the play, that year's cast, and the significance of V-Day nationwide. I soon learned that this was a classic Kaitlin moment: she loved to make an impact to get a reaction and then talk about an event, an issue, or a text. Her enthusiasm for everything she did brought out the energy and curiosity out in us all.
Kaitlin's curiosity was tempered with a genuine desire to reach out and include people in a group dynamic. She put colleagues and guests at ease with her candid engagement in every discussion. At first I was nervous when she boldly quizzed the "prospies" visiting class about their hometowns, high school experiences, and fashion sense, but she always found common ground between a visitor and at least one member of our class. By the end of the class, those guests would be participating in our literary discussions as comfortably as if they had been in the course from the start.
This term, in the Victorian Age, each member submits one discussion question to the class by e-mail in advance of every meeting. Kaitlin sent many perceptive and thought-provoking questions, and several of them employed the characteristic Kaitlin strategy of making an impact to stimulate analysis. For example, she wrote: "In The Lady of Shalott, do we feel that Sir Lancelot is an asshole?" (Gasp.) But good question. Of course, that question got us all talking, not only about Lancelot's reaction and the end of the poem, but of gender expectations and subversions, and a host of fascinating literary and cultural issues. In all of our discussions, Kaitlin never let us forget that learning is just as much about feeling as it is about thinking. That is one of the most powerful memories I will have of Kaitlin, the reminder that we think with our emotions, too. And that, for me, is a wonderfully comforting thought, for it means that I will think of her often, every time reading makes me laugh or frown or, especially, gasp.
Kaitlin's curiosity was tempered with a genuine desire to reach out and include people in a group dynamic. She put colleagues and guests at ease with her candid engagement in every discussion. At first I was nervous when she boldly quizzed the "prospies" visiting class about their hometowns, high school experiences, and fashion sense, but she always found common ground between a visitor and at least one member of our class. By the end of the class, those guests would be participating in our literary discussions as comfortably as if they had been in the course from the start.
This term, in the Victorian Age, each member submits one discussion question to the class by e-mail in advance of every meeting. Kaitlin sent many perceptive and thought-provoking questions, and several of them employed the characteristic Kaitlin strategy of making an impact to stimulate analysis. For example, she wrote: "In The Lady of Shalott, do we feel that Sir Lancelot is an asshole?" (Gasp.) But good question. Of course, that question got us all talking, not only about Lancelot's reaction and the end of the poem, but of gender expectations and subversions, and a host of fascinating literary and cultural issues. In all of our discussions, Kaitlin never let us forget that learning is just as much about feeling as it is about thinking. That is one of the most powerful memories I will have of Kaitlin, the reminder that we think with our emotions, too. And that, for me, is a wonderfully comforting thought, for it means that I will think of her often, every time reading makes me laugh or frown or, especially, gasp.
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