I felt both saddened and excited by the announcement in the Fieldston News that Jim Cullen will no longer be teaching at Fieldston. I know Jim as a parent (both of our boys went there at the same time) and a colleague.
As a member of the History department, Jim brought an intellectual rigor that the students and I greatly appreciated. He often pushed back against simplistic reasoning, forcing one (sometimes uncomfortably) to reevaluate their arguments and beliefs. While I might not always have changed my ideas, I know that Jim’s questioning sharpened them.
In addition, I miss our discussions about books and films that we were reading and seeing. Knowing my interest in various topics in History, Jim would slip me books that he thought I might find interesting and useful and recommend movies and TV series that I would enjoy.
While each of us in the History department held different political, social, and cultural views, Jim, while at the same time critiquing some of these beliefs and presenting his point of view, at times, quite sharply, understood that each of us was deeply knowledgeable about our subject matter and cared greatly for the students that we taught. In my mind these strengths of Jim are invaluable, especially in a period of time in which, in the name of change, ideological dogma, group think and conformity seem to rule the day. Jim understood that this political orthodoxy, even with the best intent, leads to narrow thinking, less questioning and, in the end, a dumbing down of knowledge, which as he noted could paradoxically lead to a conservative backlash, ending in an equally limited worldview.
At the same time, Jim understood the limitations of a traditional approach to historical inquiry. While not dismissing standard socio-political approaches to the study of history, Jim supported other faculty members who wanted to expand the study of History by offering courses around subject matter that interested both students and faculty. Moreover, working with other faculty, Jim designed and co taught cultural history courses, using TV shows and music from a variety of genres, including Broadway shows as a way to understand the past and the present.
Starting at a new school is always very exciting and rewarding. Greenwich Country Day School is getting a fine teacher. Unfortunately, Fieldston is losing one. I wish him all the best.
Joseph Kleinman
Former History Faculty
Fieldston School
