The most immediate image that came to my mind was of sitting with him in his basement office, a much bled upon draft of my thesis on his desk between us arguing about whether “think” or “feel” was a more scholarly word choice. And the second was of Bill playing guitar and singing the Stones’ “Brown Sugar.”

Thanks for your words, too. So many things I had forgotten.

I’d like to be half the teacher he has been — imparting lessons even from a distance.

I can’t believe how my life is different because of Dr. Burling. If I hadn’t had him 1st semester of the 1st year of grad school, I would have probably been a “liberal humanist” close-reader of literature. I probably wouldn’t have any real clue about cultural criticism, maybe none at all considering every other professor and every other class I’ve had. Every other professor I’ve had may have given some mention to critical theory, may have brought up feminist theory, or Marxist theory, as some vague concept. But aside from one other professor, they’ve all been passing mentions while we deconstructed literature or history of English. (The one exception is the professor who is filling in for Dr. Burling in the critical theories/Frankfurt School class I was supposed to have with him. While he’s brilliant at philosophy in general, he’s self-described new at materialist and Marxist theory, and isn’t very familiar with most of the theorists/critics we’re studying–who made up the foundation of the cultural criticism Dr. Burling taught and I feel absolutely enamored of.

When I discovered cultural criticism, Adorno, Gramsci, Jameson, Freedman, through Dr. Burling, it awakened something inside and lit a passion for the subject I had no idea even existed before I had his class. I thought English was all about…English literature when I enrolled for my MA. Cultural criticism became who I am, and I know for an absolute fact I wouldn’t have discovered that these last three years if not for Dr. Burling. It’s just not real for me.

–
Brooks Travis