Russell Burgos, a lecturer in UCLA's International Institute, has a rsum that pretty much sums up the word eclectic.During his sophomore year at Loyola University Chicago, Burgos joined the Army. Three years later, he went back to college, and then years after that, he headed to graduate school and earned two master’s degrees, one in national security studies from George Washington University and the second in political science from UCLA.
He stayed in Westwood to work on a Ph.D. in international relations and political science, which he earned only after a detour to Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he’d been deployed by the U.S. Army Reserve to work with Iraqis in their reconstruction efforts. His long and circuitous route also included assorted paying-the-bills stints as an accounts payable clerk, bartender, forklift driver, phlebotomist, policy analyst and software tester.
Given Burgos' broad range of experience, it's little surprise that students selected him in a campuswide vote to deliver My Last Lecture, an annual honor bestowed upon a UCLA professor or lecturer by the Alumni Scholars Club, a student organization under the auspices of the Alumni Association. The recipient is invited to ponder the expansive possibilities prompted by the question, "What would you tell your audience if you had but one lecture to give — your last lecture on this Earth?"
Given Burgos' broad range of experience, it's little surprise that students selected him in a campuswide vote to deliver My Last Lecture, an annual honor bestowed upon a UCLA professor or lecturer by the Alumni Scholars Club, a student organization under the auspices of the Alumni Association. The recipient is invited to ponder the expansive possibilities prompted by the question, "What would you tell your audience if you had but one lecture to give — your last lecture on this Earth?"
Students give Burgos high mark for his classes — he’s been teaching global studies and Middle East and North African studies at UCLA since 2008 — where he's apt to share stories about his work promoting dialogue between senior military leaders from the Middle East and NATO, or his interest in the political economy of 18th century piracy.
"In addition to being an extremely knowledgeable professor, he is a fascinating person," said Grace Lau, a senior majoring in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics. Lau cast her vote for Burgos, who has also gained a degree of renown as an expert on Middle East military security, television and radio commentator, political blogger, and author of numerous articles and the soon-to-be-published book, "From the Potomac to the Tigris: The United States and Iraq from Wilson to Obama."
Lau admitted that she hadn’t expected anything special when she signed up for Burgos' introductory global studies class, but "I came out completely enthralled, never having had a professor who could so seamlessly integrate his life experiences with the core concepts of the class."
She was so inspired by the course, in fact, that she added a global studies minor to her academic program.
In part because his academic career has been so unconventional, Burgos said the honor left him "flattered and in a bit of shock.
"I was a nontraditional grad student — which in the delicate language of such things means I was old, in my mid-30s, when I went [back to school]," Burgos said. "And I was over 40 when I completed my dissertation. It was pretty clear I wasn't going to have a traditional academic career, with time and opportunities for research, writing, conferences and the other things we're socialized as graduate students to expect from a career."
Burgos decided he would focus on teaching. "The mythologist Joseph Campbell famously said each of us should chase our bliss. The good news for me is I don't have to chase it far — just into a classroom."
My Last Lecture encourages faculty members to draw "from parts of their lives that students might not know about," said Matt Long, a third-year student who, as vice president of the Alumni Scholars Club, is overseeing this year's program.
Although the series is only in its fourth year in its current incarnation, UCLA held a similar program more than a half-century ago. In 1955, the University Religious Center invited six campus notables to share their life philosophies as a way to deepen student-teacher relationships. Among them were philosophy professor Abraham Kaplan, named among the country's top 10 teachers by Time magazine; chemistry professor Kenneth Trueblood, a pioneer in DNA research; and famed Bruins basketball coach John Wooden.
She was so inspired by the course, in fact, that she added a global studies minor to her academic program.
In part because his academic career has been so unconventional, Burgos said the honor left him "flattered and in a bit of shock.
Burgos in Iraq, somewhere between Samarra and Kahniqin, in 2003. His cohorts often teased him about being "an egghead" because he always carried something to read.
Burgos decided he would focus on teaching. "The mythologist Joseph Campbell famously said each of us should chase our bliss. The good news for me is I don't have to chase it far — just into a classroom."
My Last Lecture encourages faculty members to draw "from parts of their lives that students might not know about," said Matt Long, a third-year student who, as vice president of the Alumni Scholars Club, is overseeing this year's program.
Although the series is only in its fourth year in its current incarnation, UCLA held a similar program more than a half-century ago. In 1955, the University Religious Center invited six campus notables to share their life philosophies as a way to deepen student-teacher relationships. Among them were philosophy professor Abraham Kaplan, named among the country's top 10 teachers by Time magazine; chemistry professor Kenneth Trueblood, a pioneer in DNA research; and famed Bruins basketball coach John Wooden.
Long said the two most recent Last Lectures, by plumber-turned-political scientist Phil Gussin and Richard Hovannisian, acclaimed professor emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern history, have given him new perspectives that are applicable to his own life. "It's really an amazing experience to hear a professor lecture not on their usual classroom subject matter but on their life, [to see] these great minds we have at UCLA and how they've gotten to where they are today."
Burgos acknowledged that preparing a lecture that is both academic and life-affirming will be a challenge. He plans to focus, he said, "on narratives, or story-telling, in political and social life — how we use them, why we need them and why it's important to continually contest and reevaluate them."
Burgos acknowledged that preparing a lecture that is both academic and life-affirming will be a challenge. He plans to focus, he said, "on narratives, or story-telling, in political and social life — how we use them, why we need them and why it's important to continually contest and reevaluate them."
It's also likely that Burgos' lecture will draw from his teaching philosophy of contextualizing data, events and history.
That approach captures the attention of students like senior Wayne Wong, a microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics major. "My studies are extremely focused, its subjects literally microscopic," Wong said. "Professor Burgos helped put my learning in a global context, and … the knowledge and critical-thinking skills I have acquired from his classes will last me a lifetime."
Unfortunately, Burgos's talk will really be one of his last lectures at UCLA; the spring quarter will be his last as a full-time teacher here. Burgos said he's not sure where he's headed next, although Pepperdine University, Claremont McKenna College and USC could be possibilities, given that he has previously taught at all of them.
Meanwhile, he can enjoy his time in the spotlight on Thursday, May 2, 7 p.m. at Schoenberg Hall.
"Being from Chicago," said Burgos, "for a guy like me to learn that students value the work we've done together enough to recognize it with this award is sort of like seeing the Cubs win the World Series: unexpected."
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For details on My Last Lecture, ticket information and videos of previous lecturers, visit the website. To learn more about Burgos, read this previously published UCLA Today story: Scholar/vet recounts painful lessons from the Iraq War.
