I received some terrible news a few weeks ago out of Laurentian University. My favourite professor, and perhaps the most influential intellectual presence in my life to this point, Professor Robert Beckett, is “retiring.” Anybody who has ever been taught by Hobb, as he is affectionately known, can tell you what a special professor he is (was?). I remember when I first met Hobb. I was asked to join the class by my friend John Langdon, as I was looking for another elective and hadn’t decided which one to take just yet. We entered the class, and chatted amongst ourselves, awaiting our new-to-me professor’s arrival.
Hobb entered the class, worked his way to the front (he was given a small room, for a class that obviously couldn’t all fit in there), and started chatting with some of the students he already knew. The discussion was not formal, or an attempt at appearing human, as several professors struggle with, but an honest inquiry on what the students (read:friends) of his had been up to since the last time they had spoken with him. After they had caught up, he turned to the class, ready to begin.
He introduced himself, and told us to call him Hobb (in case anybody is unaware, Hobb is a character in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, which is definitely worth the read). The course was called Philapsyche (a combination of Philosophy and Psychology). He began humbly and honestly, to talk about human existence. Within the first minute of conversation, I knew this class was for me. After a few minutes of lecturing, he turned to the blackboard, and drew a diagram for the class. Although it was not particularly artistic, the idea of it and its image has remained in my mind. There squatted a monkey on all fours, standing on top of the globe. I had never heard anybody refer to humans as monkeys so honestly before.
During the length of the course, Langdon and myself often found ourselves staying after class to have discussions with Hobb. I would visit Hobb often during my last two years of university, commonly exchanging comic books, novels, art books, poetry, DVDs of information, or whatever else we had for one another. A conduit of knowledge was formed that served to launch me into new heights intellectually. I had always been somewhat of an existentialist, but having someone so knowledgable to discuss human existence and the finer points of the human life with propelled me to all new heights.
At first, it was difficult to absorb all of the information I was being handed. Never before had I felt such a raw transfer of thoughts and ideas from one source. Thoughts and ideas are usually funneled and screened, so that the harsh reality looks much more like sunshine and lollipops. There were no sunshines and lollipops waiting to save me. Everything was real, and to truly struggle with the ideas being tossed around meant facing the real issues face-to-face. That was my favourite part of the information. He didn’t show the class a caged beast, and tell them that was the reality of the situation. He let the beast out, and allowed it to roam around freely. Those brave enough were allowed to confront the beast, while the less brave cowered in a corner, and peaked through their hands. They observed just enough of it to pass the class, because they had no interest, or were too afraid, to truly understand it.
I wrestled with every beast. My closest friends, including my lover-at-the-time, suffered or prospered accordingly. I eventually beat every beast and demon, but not without some losses along the way. Like my mythological phoenix, I rose up again everytime. Some rebirths took much longer than others, and some winters were barely survived.
In the end, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. If you want to struggle with life’s biggest questions, you need to struggle with life sometimes. That’s reality. Hobb re-introduced me to the underbelly of life, and I hope everyone understands just how important of a learning experience that was for me.
I will be returning to Laurentian University in the fall, and I wonder what the emotional experience will be like without Hobb there. Who will reach beyond academia, and uncage the beasts of knowledge for students now?
Thank you Hobb, may the shadow of your presence inspire all the remaining students who had the pleasure of being taught by you, and help bring the harsh education provided by reality back to academia.