Robert Wexelblatt Marks 50 Years at CGS

Professor of humanities beloved by alumni

By Chelsea Feinstein

When Robert Wexelblatt joined the College of General Studies in 1970, there was no Capstone project, the Boston-London experience was decades away, and the college even had a different name, the College of Basic Studies. Much has changed in the intervening 50 years, but Wexelblatt says one thing hasn’t: the joy he gets from teaching. The coronavirus may have robbed him of a golden anniversary party, but Wexelblatt is marking the occasion by continuing to do what he’s done for the past five decades—making a difference in the lives of students.

“CGS has given me much—a community, scores of wonderful colleagues, and hosts of good students,” says Wexelblatt, a CGS professor of humanities. Beloved for his commitment to teaching and his interest in his students, Wexelblatt’s impact on the college runs deep, particularly through the Capstone Project, the hallmark group research paper, which he pioneered in 1977 and that marks the end of a CGS student’s sophomore year.

“Professor Wexelblatt challenged me to analyze the world, and since leaving his classroom, I can say that my analysis has never stopped,” says Ana Obergfell (’20, CAS’22). “More importantly, he taught me to always pursue my passions. He loved teaching more than any professor I’ve had before, and he inspires me to make sure I spend my life doing what I love.”

Stanley Fogleman (’76, CAS’78, MET’93), who is retired from a career in IT, credits Wexelblatt with helping him learn to become a better writer, and says they’ve kept in touch over shared interests in Ingmar Bergman and Franz Kafka.

And Lizzy Wimberly (’17, CAS’19) says that some of her most rewarding experiences at CGS were in Wexelblatt’s class.

“Whether lecturing on Kant or facilitating discussions on education reform, Professor Wexelblatt’s words are the kind that compel people to listen,” she says. “I continue to cherish our conversations—which are reliably full of valuable insight, clever wit, and the motivation to learn something new.”

While he’s known first and foremost as an educator, Wexelblatt is also a prolific writer. He’s published 14 books of fiction, essays, and poetry, including four in the last year alone, in addition to hundreds of poems, essays, and short stories.

His latest work, Hsi-wei Tales (Regal House Publishing, 2020), is a book of stories set during China’s Sui Dynasty about an illiterate peasant boy named Chen Hsi-wei who is used as a courier by the country’s emperor. Wexelblatt was inspired to write the book by a footnote in one of the essays in chemist and writer Primo Levi’s book Other People’s Trades.

“This book reverses the advice to write what you know,” Wexelblatt says. “For me, it’s usually the other way around. I understand things only after I’ve imagined them.”

Pandemic-enforced lockdowns gave Wexelblatt more time to write, but also brought another first after 50 years of teaching: remote learning. He says running a virtual classroom allowed him to connect with his students in new ways.

“I miss the informal conversations before and after class, running into students and colleagues in hallways. But I’ve found that one-on-one Zoom office hours are exhilarating, as well as hygienic,” he says “It’s the personal connection with students that’s most important to me. What’s sustained me over my career isn’t talking about Plato, Aristotle, and Kierkegaard, but whom I get to talk with about them.”

Wexelblatt’s latest book, a short story collection entitled The Thirteenth Studebaker (BlazeVOX Books) will be published later this year.

Did you study with Professor Wexelblatt? Share your memories and messages in the comments section below.