“I am not the same teacher that I was when I started 36 years ago, and that’s probably a good thing,” said John A. Doody, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy.

Jack explained that his personal style as a teacher has changed and developed over the years, shifting from a lecture-oriented approach to a more discussion-centered one. “As I changed I wanted to get to know my students’ personalities and cultivate a community of scholars—a team, if you will—as opposed to cultivating my own personality as a stand-up comic,” Jack said.

And now, as the director of the Core Humanities Program, which offers first-year students an intense two-semester seminar that introduces them—many for the first time—to significant texts of western culture, Jack has seen all of his past teaching experiences and insights culminate in a program that has stretched beyond the classroom and into what Villanova calls “Learning Communities.” A natural outgrowth and extension of the Core Humanities Program, learning communities at Villanova provide freshmen opportunities to live and learn with other first-year students, all in an effort to enhance the students’ college experiences.

One of the hallmarks of the Core Humanities Program at Villanova is its emphasis on bringing together all students—future engineers, nurses, business professionals, lawyers, doctors, journalists, etc.—in one classroom experience where together they can explore questions about life, humanity, God and truth through classic texts, which over the centuries continue to challenge humankind. The Core Humanities Seminar stresses rigorous reading, thoughtful writing and intelligent discourse. It is not a survey course.

In a learning community, students live together in a residence hall and take their Core Humanities Seminar together. Students in a learning community experience a holistic, more integrated approach to their intellectual, personal, social and moral development. Through their shared experiences, the students in the learning communities experience stronger connections between classroom and everyday life, benefit from increased interaction with faculty and staff, and experience a greater sense of community with their hall mates and classmates.

“What is so great about teaching small classes is the ability for those students to get to know each other and feed off of each other. Through the learning communities, students in my class are also living together, and a dynamic is created where everyone knows each other’s personalities. It’s my job to make sure that differences that arise lead to creative and fruitful discussions. You truly are teaching the whole person,” he said.

Jack explained that his goal as an educator or “coach” is to transform the class into a cohesive and productive team; he wants his students to realize that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. “If I can get the students to think and act like they’re on a team, then I’m satisfied,” he said. “For me, the inspiration is to turn students into teammates so that their work improves each other’s.”

What is required of “players” on a Core Humanities team? To score points daily, of course, and points are scored by coming prepared to class and participating in class discussions. “When students make a good point, I’ll say, ‘Three points. Nothing but net.’ ”

Jack has taken his classroom-team analogy even further in his “Philosophy of Sport” course, an appropriate venue for testing the limits of his approach. One semester, he divided the class into 13, two-person teams to deliver presentations on different topics. The first team to punt included one of the brightest students in the class, “a student with all the self-discipline of a quarterback,” Jack said.

“Before his presentation, I pulled Heath aside and gave him a pep talk,” Jack said. “I wanted him to know that the success or failure of his presentation would largely determine the success or failure of the others to follow. I told Heath not to let me down. ‘I want your best,’ I said. He replied, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand.’”

Heath gave his all and didn’t let his coach or teammates down. “His presentation was very good as was every presentation that followed.” Jack said. “At the end of Heath’s presentation, I had everyone clap. These are second-semester seniors—clapping in class. They paid attention and got into it. If that’s not a moment of inspiration, I don’t know what is.”