Teaching Awards 2007

Film professor succeeds by helping students find their own voice

Rush

(Photo by Ryan S. Brandenberg / Temple University)

When it comes down to it, film professor Jeff Rush is more than a good teacher, academic, and administrator: He is a good listener.

Praised by both students and colleagues for his ability to help students find their own voice, Rush said that some of his best screenwriting classes take place when “I just sit back, listen and take notes.”

Rush, who came to Temple in 1990 and served as the first chair of the department of film and media arts from 1995 to 2000, is the winner of a 2007 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. He is known by those who work with him for embracing a teaching philosophy where theory meets practice. He has noted that screenwriting is traditionally taught by “laying out a bunch of givens and rules, and then asking students to work inside of them.

“I believe, however, that you should start by listening and trying to understand what the writer wants to accomplish,” Rush continued. “The next step is to offer examples of how this has been handled conventionally and illustrate what other options are present, allowing the student to make his or her own decisions along the way.”

A colleague in his department once noted that Rush “trusts and believes that the student already has the answers, and Jeff is there to direct him/her to it.”

Rush’s commitment to listening to the student voice extends beyond the classroom, where he continues to mentor both current students and graduates.

One student commented that Rush takes time out of his schedule to see films that students rave about, so that “he can better understand the kinds of stories they’d like to explore in his classes.”

The result is that students see Rush as a mentor, role model and partner in their intellectual development. It is no accident, then, that students routinely comment in course reviews that they wish his classes lasted longer or spanned two semesters. One referred to his screenwriting class as “the gold standard,” while another said that when deciding on elective courses he first thinks, “I will probably take just about anything Jeff Rush teaches.”

Rush took a break from full-time teaching from 2000 to 2004, when he accepted the role of senior associate dean for Academic Affairs.

 “When I became dean in 2000, it was really apparent to me who my academic partner should be in taking us into the 21st century. And it was Jeff,” said School of Communications and Theater Dean Concetta Stewart, who, like many his students, referred to Rush as an intellectual role model.

“It’s so important to understand what you’re trying to accomplish as an academic leader,” Stewart continued. “What’s the discipline you’re trying to represent, what’s the best curriculum that makes sense and prepares students — this is what Jeff really helped me with … He was invaluable.”

Rush, who received a master’s of fine arts in screenwriting and directing from the American Film Institute and another in fiction writing from the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop, is co-author of Alternative Scriptwriting, a standard in the field used in 45 colleges across the country. 

— Alix Gerz