With the academic windows now open for registration for the spring semester, it would be in your own best interest to know what the hell you are getting yourself into. The two most important things to keep in mind during the selection process are a) the course and 2) the professor.
As a guide, the University at Buffalo prints out (at our expense) a comprehensive packet that details every available course. However, the packet summarizes three and a half months in one or two paragraphs and forgets to mention anything about the professor.
To remedy this minor oversight, you can find helpful websites on the Internet like ratemyprofessors.com. The site literally rates every professor from every university in the country, and allows students to explain, in their own words, why the professor bites or not.
The only more effective procedure is to physically sit down with a prospective professor and say, “Yo, what’s the dilly?” Luckily for all you, Generation sat down to get to know the more personal side of one of UB’s best professors, Dr. Justin Read.
Dr. Read grew up outside of Los Angeles in Riverside, California. He completed his undergraduate degree farther north at U.C. Berkley and completed his PhD at Michigan. After a year of research in Brazil and Latin America, he found his way to UB and has earned the titles of assistant professor and the director of Spanish undergraduate studies. More importantly, Read considers himself a fan of the Buffalo Bills, his favorite movie is Apocalypse Now, and he collects music.
At the moment, Professor Read is in the process of writing three consecutive books on a variety of topics. Apparently he is a smart dude and he challenges his students to like, be smart as well. The courses Read teaches are by no means easy, but they certainly are valuable. He encourages all students to produce their best work and sets the bar high to show students what they can achieve.
To give Professor Read a dose of his own medicine, Generation challenged him to try and answer a few questions that Miss America contestants have to face. We are sorry to report that he might not make the best candidate. Professor Read incorrectly named “Satan” to be our current vice president (in reference to Dick Cheney) and admitted that his first day in the Oval Office he would immediately end all taxes for millionaires.
No matter—we can look beyond most of the answers since he likes Neil Diamond.
Next semester, Dr. Read will be teaching Latin American Poetry and Brazilian Literature in Translation. If you have the opportunity to take a class with this living legend, do so. According to ratemyprofessors.com, he was a helpful professor, well deserving of his 4.7 out of 5.0.
