Professor Profile

Dr. Manfred Weidhorn

In classrooms around YU, exhausted students slump down in their chairs, under the usually safe assumption that nothing will disturb their catatonic state.

However, a new scenario develops in the English literature classes of Dr. Manfred Weidhorn, who absolutely refuses to cooperate with students’ efforts to slumber. With bold statements meant to evoke responses from his classes, Dr. Weidhorn challenges m any sleepily conceived notions of his students. Each time a student shuts his eyes and attempts to withdraw into his own peaceful world, Dr. Weidhorn knocks loudly on his door. What was he saying? The scientific revolution was evil? The student has no choice but to respond.

To anyone who has witnessed the passion that Dr. Weidhorn displays in his class discussion, it comes as no surprise to learn that Dr. Weidhorn’s current research is focused on "The Great Paradigm Shift," the cultural revolution accompanying the scientific one. It was by sharing his personal interests and exciting view of literature with his class that Dr. Weidhorn had enticed many students to peer outside the boundaries of their own worlds.

While "The Great Paradigm Shift" is Dr. Weidhorn’s present fancy (he has lectured on it both in class and as part of the Galileo lecture series), it is certainly not his only interest. In his 25 years at YU, Dr. Weidhorn has published 10 scholarly books and over 70 essays. The focus of his earliest work being the depiction of dreams in 17th century non-dramatic literature, Dr. Weidhorn has moved on to write four books dealing with the life of Winston Churchill and three biographies for young adults. His essays have dealt with a range of literary themes.

Dr. Weidhorn’s earliest passion for the English language stemmed not from reading its literature, however, but from a desire to make his own contribution to it. Moving from Vienna to Boro Park at the age of ten and making his way through Yeshivat Eitz Chaim, Stuyvesant High School and Columbia college, Dr. Weidhorn dreamed of being "the great American novelist." Novels were useful to him simply as tools to sharpen his own talent; writing handbooks filled his room, and he spent countless hours studying them. It is this intensive study which he credits for his ability to successfully write non-fiction works. Despite his dreams of being a novelist, Dr. Weidhorn soon realized that his career lay not in the realm of fiction, but in the reality of academia. After he had finished two years of military service, he returned to Columbia, and earned a Ph.D. in English Literature.

Dr. Weidhorn joined the YU faculty after having spent one year teaching in Alabama and three years at Brooklyn College. Over time, he has developed strong feelings for YU. He described the atmosphere here as "heimish," and he praised the student-teacher ratio at YU. Dr. Weidhorn also noted that the unique religious character of YU’s student body has added a special intriguing challenge to his job.

In fact, Dr. Weidhorn has adapted his teaching technique over the years, in order to teach YU students more proficiently. Realizing that YU students spend the first half of their days engaging in the study of what he terms "prescriptive" texts, he has found it necessary to differentiate between these and the "descriptive" texts encountered in the study of English literature. The usefulness of literature, in Dr. Weidhorn’s experienced opinion, lies not in its ability to provide answers, but in its talent of raising questions. By "bringing students to literature and bringing literature to the students," Dr. Weidhorn says that he hopes to unlock vast worlds of experience and the knowledge therein.

Dr. Weidhorn is in no way similar to the stereotypical notion of the boring pedagogue. With his humor and uncanny ability to arouse student interest in English literature, Dr. Weidhorn arduously tries to firmly implant the lens of literature in each of his students’ personal microscopes. The Greek philosopher Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living"; Dr. Weidorn firmly adheres to this statement enjoying reading and writing, as well as teaching. In fact, even were he to "win the lottery," Dr.Weidhorn humorously swore that he would never release either his pen or his chalk.