Brian P. Levack

In my courses I sometimes relate historical developments to current events with which my students might be familiar. More often, I emphasize that the past is irretrievable: that history belongs to a world we have lost and will not be repeated. By exposing students to a past that is in many ways foreign to them, by getting them to appreciate the differences between us and our ancestors, I offer them a road to the self-knowledge that is the main goal of an education in the liberal arts."