Wednesday, June 30, 2021
My Teachers: Ed Crapol
I had many great professors at William and Mary, including some (Joanne Braxton, Ron Rapoport) whom I have previously written about here (and will again). Ed Crapol is a new character for the blog, though.
Once I decided to become a history major, IPLawGuy recommended that I take Prof. Crapol's class on America and Vietnam. It was hugely popular, and I soon found out why. He was a great teacher, and loved the subject.
But there was something else, too. It was perhaps the first academic experience I had where the United States was presented with any kind of moral ambiguity-- where the USA wasn't clearly heroic. I found this shocking and thrilling, and soon, essential. I love my country, but that love has to acknowledge and consider the flaws, and Prof. Crapol's class revealed a way of doing so.
He had been the first in his family to go to college, and eventually worked his way through the University of Wisconsin to get his Ph.D. It was a journey of passion for him, and that (like my other favorite teachers) came out in the way he taught.
I loved law school. I mean, I loved it. And I still do. I suspect that Prof. Crapol was the same way. I hope that can instill my teaching with a fraction of what Prof. Crapol brought to us.
