At ten minutes to 7 p.m on Tuesday, Sep. 30, students were already starting to line up outside of Olin 130. By the time Memorial’s bells were chiming, the line had swelled to over one hundred people. Was everyone here to see a band perform or listen to a famous speaker? In fact, the first session of an Interdisciplinary course on the topic of the HIV/AIDS epidemic was about to begin.

Taught by Visiting Professor and Whitman alumnus Kris Nyrop ’79, IDSC 400A: How We Got AIDS was taught over four 90-minute class periods. It is being followed by IDSC 400B: Fighting HIV/AIDS: Medical, Political and Social Strategies, which started Tuesday, Oct. 21.

The class is taught in a lecture format and has accompanying suggested readings, but no formal work. It has received praise from students for being informative, topical and light on commitment.

Senior Jacquie Frank said, “I liked being able to listen and absorb the information without being worried about taking notes or what might be on a test.”

Students signed up for the class for a variety of reasons. Many, like Frank, “needed extra, easy credits to graduate.”

Others, like sophomore Lissa Erickson, “signed up to take the class because of my general interest in health care, especially [in] developing countries.”

Regardless of why they signed up for the class, students found themselves engaged in the subject matter at hand.

“They’re actively listening, taking notes, and asking questions. I’m getting e-mails from students. They’re stopping by to talk. They’re staying after class to talk,” said Nyrop of his students.

One thing students had in common was their admiration for Professor Nyrop.

“I think Kris is a brilliant and engaging lecturer who really knows what he’s talking about,” said Erickson.

Senior Justin Daigneault echoed her sentiments.

“He does stand in front of you and just talk for an hour and a half; however, the time flies by, and at the end all you want to do is have him talk more,” he said.

Senior Kelly Dundon said, “Kris Nyrop is the most dynamic and engaging lecturer I’ve had in quite some time.”

Nyrop brings a wealth of experience to his position. During the 20 years that he has be involved in HIV prevention, he has worked for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study and the Washington State Department of Health.

He also was instrumental in starting Street Outreach Services, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle that provides outreach, assistance and education for people at risk of contracting HIV.
When Professor of Anthropology Chas McKhann suggested that Nyrop apply for the O’Donnell visiting faculty position, he jumped at the chance.

Many students have expressed interest in now having a semester long course on the subject.

“There was so much information that we couldn’t cover, it would be great to have a semester long class,” said Frank.

Dundon said, “There’s such a wealth of information here to be shared and discussed. My only complaint is that there’s not enough time to go over it all.”

In addition to being informative, students also found the class useful.

Junior Tyler Harvey said, “It’s helped me to understand a global problem that I didn’t give a whole lot of thought to before.”

Students also enjoyed the format, and thought that it would work well for other subjects as well.

“Whitman should try to offer more short seminar courses like this,” said senior Christoph Fuchs.
Senior Julia Lakes agreed.

“Courses like this are what make a liberal arts school so incredible. I just want to see more special topics seminar classes,” she said.

Though Nyrop is only here for these two classes, he’s already thinking of more courses that he’d like to offer students.

“One of my ideas was for a class on literature from the margins. There’s a very large and growing genre of fiction and memoirs of folks on the sinning side of life, and it makes for wonderful reading… There are tons of ways of reading and interpreting it,” said Nyrop.

Nyrop also wants to continue to discussion on drug use in the United States, with a class on “drug policy: or the war on drugs as most folks refer to it.   The utter fiasco of Iraq and the collapse of the economy generates most public attention right now, but you’d be amazed at the enormous economic, political and public health consequences of the U.S. obsession with drugs and drug users.”

Judging from students’ positive reaction to Nyrop, these classes would most likely be extremely popular as well.