There are certain professors’ names that float around Yale. Everyone has heard the names, some have even taken classes with them, a couple may get to know the people behind these names, but I can venture to say that even fewer get to have their lives changed by these professors.
In fall 2010, I wandered into the Berkeley basement for my first Czech class. I had heard stories about the professor, but had absolutely no idea what I was in for.
As I waited for the professor, I got a little nervous as to what she would be like. In the midst of my pondering, a little woman with a beautiful bonnet walked in to the classroom. She introduced herself as Professor Karen von Kunes, or perhaps more commonly and affectionately known to the Yale student body as “KvK.”
KvK is an enigma. She is very quiet when you first meet her, but the more you get to know her, the more you realize she is a firecracker. She was the breath of fresh air that reignited my interest in academia.
KvK does not teach you the basic phrases that you would typically learn in a language class. Rather, she keeps her students interested in the language by teaching phrases that are associated with Czech culture and useful in everyday speech.
KvK is the leading Czech professor in the United States and has written many books as well as a dictionary on the language. She makes all her own textbooks for the class, with marvelous titles such as “Check Your Czech” and “Wow! Czech’s So Easy!”
True to her course book title, KvK takes an extremely difficult language and makes it easy.
In addition to the language of Czech, she also teaches a literature course on the works of Milan Kundera and a film course on the works of Milos Foreman. KvK also wrote the speech for President George W. Bush when he visited Slovakia.
I asked KvK what the greatest joy of teaching is for her and she replied, “Wow, what a question,” paused for a brief moment, and then continued, “I love being with young people. When you have students that all interact with one another, and me, and have great ideas, you get to learn as much from them as they do from you. This is a great pleasure that people don’t have in other professions.”
Enough about the professor though, let’s look at the woman.
KvK was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. She grew up in the country’s Communist era. As a child, she loved preschool, but as the government mandated, she had to switch schools. KvK hated her new preschool and refused to go, so her mother left her at home alone. KvK described her childhood as lonely; she would sit watching the trains pass by. “I would get this awful feeling, that I was being pinned down, missing the adventure. I watched the trains and wondered what my life had in store for me.”
After the 1968 Prague Spring, the Soviet Army invasion swept the country. KvK used this opportunity to escape to the West. She waited overnight for a Visa and said, “If I had hesitated, I wouldn’t have made it.”
KvK made her way from Prague to Germany, then Austria, and ended up in Paris. Months later, she immigrated to Canada where she lived for twelve years. In Canada, KvK learned English and attended McGill University, where she got her doctorate in Slavic Languages.
I’ve asked KvK many times how many languages she speaks, and she always jokingly replies “Nula,” which means zero in Czech. I am pleased to announce that I finally got a straight answer to my question. At one point in her life, KvK could read 10 languages fluently and could speak Czech, French, English, Russian, Italian, and German.
Over time, KvK has developed this wonderful talent that allows her to call it as she sees it. I was dealing with some health issues over the summer in Prague on her In Kafka’s Spirit program (I highly recommend this to everyone!), when KvK called me aside one day.
I will preface this by saying KvK is possibly the most observant person I have ever met. At the group dinners when everyone was making a commotion over food and conversation, KvK would sit quietly watching us all. Her eyes reminded me of a child observing the world for the first time, just taking it all in.
Anyways, KvK had observed my declining state and decided to have a little chat with me about it. She told me that I needed to have a stronger will to live. If I chose to be fine, then I would be. She then went on to tell me about the times when the doctors diagnosed her with cancer. Yes, that was plural, this happened more than once.
She decided that she did not want to undergo the medical treatment and adopted the mindset that if you avoid convincing yourself that something is wrong with you, you will be completely fine. This story ends with KvK surviving cancer by pretty much willing herself not to have it.
I was genuinely curious as to where this life philosophy of hers came from. I asked KvK what was the most influential person, book, ideology, etc. on her life. “Alexander Solzenicyn,” she replied. “He fought against the Germans in World War I, but was sent to a Stalinist prison in Siberia after the war. He lived in extremely harsh conditions there, ended up getting cancer, and was totally fine. He discovered his talent as a writer there. His story just showed me that a human being is strong. They can survive extremely harsh conditions. He also taught me that human happiness isn’t related to location. Happiness comes from within the human.”
KvK radiates these ideas from within her own life and onto others. A fellow Czech student once told me “KvK isn’t a person, she’s a lifestyle,” and I don’t think any other description would do her justice.