The year of 2017 brought new faces to Cásper Líbero group of Journalism professors and my mission was to briefly interview these new teachers and their expectations towards the year and the college students. Each week, we will present a different professor and comment a little about them. This week, let’s meet professor Rodrigo Suzuki, who is teaching Philosophy.
Tell us a bit about yourself: My name is Rodrigo Augusto Suzuki Dias Cintra and I hold a pos-doctorate from the University of Coimbra, Portugal. I also have my Masters and PhD from the University of São Paulo (USP), I have two bachelor degrees, one from USP Law School (Largo São Francisco) and a Philosophy BA from USP Humanities Department (FFLCH). Moreover, I studied in England, where I took classes at University of Cambridge.
And why did you decide to teach at Cásper? Basically, I have four reason. First, I am very interested in writing papers about essays and literature. Secondly, I want to articulate my philosophy classes with a more indepth approach to the arts. Third, I wanted to work in a University recognized for its Excellence (who doesn’t, right?) and with a huge commitment to research. Fourth, I am interested in having student that go beyond college classes, study the subjects, do their homework and participate in the classroom. For what I knew about Cásper, it met all the criteria.
What do you expect for this year? I have good expectations, but I like to keep my feet on the ground. It’s my first year in Cásper and I am also teaching for freshmen who have just joined the college. The class is Philosophy, which has its own technical difficulties. So due to the specific characteristics of the teacher, the students and the subject it would be prudent to say that this is a year of experience. I am learning: I write the topics which I believe will work best in the classroom, the difficulties to understand arguments, cultural references, political positions.
After your first month of work, what were your impressions about the students? The best! They are good students, especially interested. I have noticed that one of the characteristics of students is their curiosity about aspects of culture in general. I think this is fundamental, especially because we are in a School of Communication. What is worth here is less what is already known, but the willingness to know the new … I feel it in the students: they are open to the new!