German history isn't just a course that Robert Citino
teaches. It's his livelihood and passion. That passion
and his love of teaching have now paid off for the Eastern
Michigan University professor.
Citino, 49, was recently named the highest rated professor
in America by ratemyprofessors.com, an online student rating
service.
 |
CITINO RATES: Robert Citino, an
Eastern
Michigan University
professor of history, was recently
named
the highest rated professor in
America by ratemyprofessors.com |
The first RateMyProfessors.com Top 50 Rankings lists featured
Citino as the "highest rated and hottest college professor."
"I don't know if I'm even the best teacher in Ypsilanti,
but this is quite pleasing," said Citino, an internationally
known military historian. "I found out about the honor
from a student and then it appeared in USA Today."
Students cited Citino for his lectures and enthusiasm.
A few comments were "I love it when he lectures because
he makes it interesting;" "He keeps you interested and
makes me want to learn more when class is over;" and "He's
an excellent professor. He has impeccable lectures and
is extremely helpful outside of the classroom. No one at
EMU should miss the opportunity to take one of his classes."
"He is the best professor I have ever seen," said Marty
Shichtman, professor of English language and literature,
who co-teaches a class with Citino. "He is exceedingly
smart, quick on his feet and very charismatic. He's also
very disciplined and organized, and the students love him."
The war years of 1939-1945 may seem long ago, said Citino,
but there is no doubt that students are interested in this
time period.
His classes include "Hitler's Germany;" "Modern German
History 1815 to present," and "Culture and the Holocaust," which
he teaches with colleagues Joanna Scott, professor of political
science, and Shichtman.
"Students select these classes. There is a huge interest
in this era," said Citino, who became interested in the
period when he was younger. "I think that generation is
passing away and it affects students and adults. The American
perspective about that war was seen in black and white.
It was much more clear than it is today."
Although Citino spends a lot of time in the classroom,
he's also an internationally known author of eight books
about the German military and has appeared as an expert
on the History Channel. His last four books were featured
as Books of the Month with the Military History Book Club
and the History Book Club.
"My scholarly field is what the German army brought to
war. I try to narrate events so a non-specialist can follow.
I provide meat for the scholars and good reading for everyone
else," he said. "There were dramatic changes in World War
II. The German army uncorked a run of victories not seen
since Napoleon. It is still hard to wrap your mind around
it. Then, it fell apart in 1942 and it never won another
appreciable victory."
Citino's latest book, "Death of the Wehrmacht: The German
Campaigns of 1942," was recently released. He'll
be signing copies of his book Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m., at the
Motte Bailey Book Store, 212 N. Fourth Ave., in Ann Arbor.
