Monday’s class discussion was the best I’ve had in years. I’m teaching American history at U Maine Augusta. We’re looking at New England Puritanism. The discussion topic was Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown.

It’s a short but complex story. Goodman Brown apparently attends a Black Sabbath; his pious mentors, minister, and neighbors are present, not to mention the colony’s leaders. Perhaps he sells his soul. Certainly, the remainder of his long life was gloom.

Maybe I chose the right reading. Certainly the students chose to be interested; they read carefully, thoughtfully. I had made some suggestions about what to look for. They followed them, but went beyond them. Everyone had ideas, and evidence to support them. Some of the ideas were new to me: of course Goodman Brown could have been dreaming or hallucinating, but could he have entered a parallel universe? (Hawthorne predates science fiction, but history, and literary classics, aren’t just about the past.)

People spoke clearly. They respected each other’s ideas, and picked up on them. The questions got bigger. Did Puritanism fuel hypocrisy? The story is set in the 1690s: what is Hawthorne saying about the 1830s, when he wrote it? And what are we hearing now, about the 17th Century, the 19th Century, and the 21st? Great classes leave unresolved questions. We may all have to read the story again, and keep thinking.

A great class can happen anytime, anywhere: in school, in college, wherever. It’s worth recalling what it’s like, and how it happens. For a teacher, it’s not just another somewhat better day at the office. It’s a reminder, often timely, of why they’re in the business: it’s fun. It’s a while since I’ve been a student, but I remember what great classes meant to me then. Sometimes a teacher kick-started an idea for me. Sometimes I was fascinated by what other students knew, and thought. Great stuff.

Historical note: David R Jones taught his first class in 1972; he took his last regular class in 2008.