| Sorbonne. He signed on to teach political science, history, and international relations after retiring as a senior master sergeant in 1973. His daughter, Patricia, is a 1972 UMUC graduate; son, Philip, a 1978 graduate; and brother, Frederick, a 1996 graduate. Rose took time out from preparing his first distance-education course one weekend in January 2000 to grant an interview via e-mail. Here’s a look at the European Division — and his place in it — past, present, and future. Q: What has been your most memorable teaching moment to date?
A: . . . receiving that letter in 1973 accepting me as a tentative member of the European Division faculty. . . . My teaching credentials were at that time minimal and getting that first call was a big event in my life and I tried hard to make the most of it. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize that I am being paid for doing something I enjoy so much. It does not get much better than this. Q: What are your students hungry to learn?
A: Most of our students seem to be interested in computers and business-related subjects. Unfortunately, the humanities, social sciences, etc., do not rank high on their priority list. . . . My best students tend to be women and many of them use political science as a background for law studies. They love the opportunity to study in historic Europe. We make many field trips to such locations as the Normandy D-Day landing beaches, the Maginot Line, the European Parliament, and the Council of Europe. Q: What changes have you noticed in UMUC students over the years?
A: When I started studying with the European Division in October 1949, most of our students were military officers. Today it is rare to see an officer in class, except in some specialized topic that interests them, since most, but not all, of them already have degrees. Also, in the early days a woman in class stood out simply because she was a woman. . . . Roughly 40 percent of our graduates for the past several years have been women. This is remarkable since the military is by and large a man’s world. Q: How have you changed as a teacher over the years?
Paul Rose '67 addresses UMUC friends at a 50th anniversary celebration in Heidelberg in October 1999.
|  | A: I suppose the obvious answer is that I have learned, grown, and matured. No matter how many degrees a person may have, he or she will not be ready for that first classroom assignment. New teachers inevitably work hard just to stay a chapter or two ahead of the students. But later in life, good teachers are what amounts to a walking data bank of information, anecdotes, etc., just waiting to pop out when needed. I believe that I learn more in every class I teach than do the students. Teaching is more fun now than ever before. |
Q: What has been your most challenging moment as a teacher?
A: I taught a [contract] course on international terrorism in Berlin several years ago to a group of hard-core, ideologically motivated, almost anti-intellectual U.S. Army officers and NCOs [noncommissioned officers] in military intelligence [who] gave the term "group think" a new meaning. . . . In trying to refute my data, they reacted in unison. For example, they would not accept data from an FBI report stating that terrorists were generally highly educated people . . . [calling the report] "communist propaganda." . . . I had to [get] the unit commander to intervene and require them to sit still and listen politely whether or not they believed the data presented. Q: What stood out about the first course you took through the university?
A: My first course was American history to the civil war. . . . The situation in class was a bit chaotic as the education centers tried to organize what amounted to a small university literally overnight, without a staff and without adequate facilities. . . . Classes were overflowing and a seat was often hard to find. Professors worked as clerks and registrars. The students from my unit traveled to school and back in a large truck since very few people had cars. But, most important of all, there was excitement in the air. We loved it. Q: What was West Germany like in 1949?
A: In many ways it was still like a war zone. Civilian clothes were not allowed and we wore uniforms everywhere, even to class. The Berlin Airlift was in progress and war clouds were on the horizon. . . . A "nonfraternization" policy with the Germans was practiced by the US military. . . . Black market of PX and commissary goods was widespread and not strictly forbidden. Cigarettes were the coin of the realm. . . . Most of Germany’s great cities were in rubble; the people were suffering great hardship. At that time it was difficult to believe that Germany would ever recover. Q: Why did you enter the Air Force?
A: . . . I grew up during the ’30s and ’40s in a coal mining town in southwestern Virginia. Young men from that area had two choices for a career: work in the coal mines or leave the area. It was an easy decision for me. I left. . . . I joined the Air Force. Q: At what point did you get serious about earning a degree?
A: I was serious about [earning a] degree after taking that first course with UMUC in 1949. But my duties often made it difficult or impossible to go to school. Q: Were you the first one in your family to earn a college degree?
A: I was the first one in my extended family to graduate from high school. . . . My mother was illiterate and my father was semi-illiterate. They were good, honest people who frankly saw "too much" education as a handicap in the hard-scrabble life-style they had experienced. Anything past learning the three R’s was considered unnecessary and counterproductive. . . . Sociologists would have a hard time explaining what led me to reject that way of life and do what I have done. I am not sure myself. Q: Just how long have you lived overseas?
A: I have lived outside the US all but eight of the last 51 years. . . . I feel more comfortable in Europe than anywhere else. There is a gentle lifestyle in Europe that grows on anyone who spends as much time here as I have. . . . My wife, Yvette, and I split our time between our home in France and here in the Kaiserslautern area of Germany where I work. Someday they will bury my bones here in Europe. I have three countries, Germany, France, and the US, and I love all three of them. Q: You retired from the Air Force in 1973. Any plans to retire from teaching?
A: I wish the word "retirement" could be expunged from the dictionary. | 
