"I have taught at BU’s School of Social Work for ten years, and draw often on
lessons learned from my own most inspiring teachers. These master teachers had strikingly different styles. Some were
sharply focused, while others surprised us regularly with unplanned meanderings into a new topic; some were funny and
others somber; some were highly interactive while others used primarily a lecture format. What they all had in common,
though, was an interesting combination of confidence and humility. These were people of great heart, mind and spirit,
who displayed breathtaking depth and breadth of knowledge, who read widely, who thought critically about the subject at
hand. At the same time, they were quick to acknowledge the limits of their knowledge and never in the least defensive
when confronted by these limits. Perhaps they were all channeling Mark Twain, whose response to a difficult question
was quoted to be 'I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said I didn’t know.' "
Janice Furlong teaches graduate courses in Adult Psychopathology, Clinical Assessment and Intervention, and Brief
Treatment. She also designed and teaches a seminar about teaching for doctoral students at the School of Social Work.
In 2007, she was the recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award at BUSSW. In addition to her teaching career, she has
over thirty years of clinical practice experience in hospital, residential, and outpatient community mental health
settings.
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