Professor Spike Lee May Teach Again

Filmmaker Spike Lee may return to the Department of Afro-American Studies next year to teach a small seminar, department officials said yesterday.

The Afro-Am department is still making arrangements with Lee and awaiting formal budgetary approval, said Afro-Am Chair Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is DuBois professor of the humanities.

Lee "would very much like to" return to Harvard, Gates said, adding that the department's faculty wants Lee to teach again.

"He's been a very good presence around Afro-American studies," Gates said.

If Lee rejoins the department as a visiting professor, Gates said, he may teach a seminar on Black cinema since 1968, a seminar on script writing or both.

Gates said Lee's style of teaching lends itself best to a small discussion format.

"The course got off to a slow start because students had the expectation of collecting pearls of wisdom from a master," Gates said.

Gates called it the "great person syndrome," and said that Lee had expected to teach a class that was discussion-oriented rather than lecture- oriented.

Lee, who has degrees from More-house College and New York University, learned to teach as he went along, Gates said. Gates said the class was "week to week an experiment."

"He was able to work out a much more favorable format--a combination of seminars and lectures," Gates said, adding that the seminar was much more successful."

Gates said Lee graded all of the pa- pers for the course himself, and taught threeextra classes.

"I was quite impressed with the seriousness ofhis commitment," Gates said.

Thomas Cripps will return as a visitingprofessor to teach a survey of Afro-American film,according to Professor of Afro-American Studies K.Anthony Appiah, the Afro-Am head tutor. Crippstaught "The Social History of African-Americans inAmerican Film" last fall.

Damon K. Roberts '93, who took both Lee's andCripps' courses, said that he wished Lee's classdealt as well with theory as Cripps' did.

"I didn't like the lack of theoreticalstructure [in Lee's class]," Roberts said. "Wewere not equipped with cinematic language."

What Thomas Cripps didn't have was the fun andthe excitement and the melodrama of each class,"Roberts added.

Roberts said it was valuable to be able tospeak with Lee, "hold him almost as a peer andhave him shout at people in class and rebut andget defensive."

Appiah said he hopes to formalize Lee'sappointment in time to list the class in the1992-93 course catalog.

Lee and Gates will be featured on the New YorkTimes Arts and Leisure page on May 31. Gates saidthe article, which will appear in interviewformat, is a discussion of Lee's upcoming film onMalcolm X, the new wave of Black filmmakers andthe Los Angles riots

"I was quite impressed with the seriousness ofhis commitment," Gates said.

Thomas Cripps will return as a visitingprofessor to teach a survey of Afro-American film,according to Professor of Afro-American Studies K.Anthony Appiah, the Afro-Am head tutor. Crippstaught "The Social History of African-Americans inAmerican Film" last fall.

Damon K. Roberts '93, who took both Lee's andCripps' courses, said that he wished Lee's classdealt as well with theory as Cripps' did.

"I didn't like the lack of theoreticalstructure [in Lee's class]," Roberts said. "Wewere not equipped with cinematic language."

What Thomas Cripps didn't have was the fun andthe excitement and the melodrama of each class,"Roberts added.

Roberts said it was valuable to be able tospeak with Lee, "hold him almost as a peer andhave him shout at people in class and rebut andget defensive."

Appiah said he hopes to formalize Lee'sappointment in time to list the class in the1992-93 course catalog.

Lee and Gates will be featured on the New YorkTimes Arts and Leisure page on May 31. Gates saidthe article, which will appear in interviewformat, is a discussion of Lee's upcoming film onMalcolm X, the new wave of Black filmmakers andthe Los Angles riots