I wanted to take a moment to thank you for everything this past semester. ... I greatly appreciate the empathy and trust you had and how beyond understanding you were ... . I am insanely grateful for everything you taught and everything I learned. The concepts and outlooks that this class offers about pain and dignity are ones that I will always ponder about and never forget. Thank you for being such an understanding and notable professor and for all of the knowledge that you have imparted. (HUMN 410, "Dignity," Fall 2023)
I remembered suddenly yesterday while I was working on this [essay] that it’s an assignment and I’m supposed to turn it in. It feels like I’m just exploring my thinking and having interesting conversations with you [through conferences and drafting], and not just doing something for points. (PHIL 310, Introduction to Ethics, Spring 2022)
Having you for my last year at CNU was a shame because you really are a fantastic professor and a mentor. Thank you for all that you do, truly. I definitely will be coming back to you for help on future essays for anything but not learning from you directly is something I truly will miss. You are the type of teacher students need most. (PHIL 310, Introduction to Ethics, Fall 2021)
Absolutely wonderful professor. ... He is encouraging. He motivates his students to get involved and to learn. No idea is a bad idea. He is willing to explore students brains and imagination to bring to light new arguments. He is the type of professor academia needs. None of us students were philosophers and most of us were not environmentalists or big fans of animal literature, but he found a way to get us all invested in the texts. ("Animality and the Environment," Spring 2021)
Katz has taken teaching into his hands and made his own teaching style that aids students learning during its entire process. He has ... a more personal teaching style showing he has a personal interest in aiding students in their learning experience. “Older” professors are still teaching in a style that can alienate them from their students. Learning from Katz gave the impression that he did not see it as a job but something he was passionate about and wanted to express through his entire time in the classroom with his students. (ENGL 102, Winter 2020)
This class was a schoolteacher in empathy. Sometimes, in the ivory tower of academia, it is easy to lose sight of the human experience which has birthed the texts that I study from. Suffering, violence, social exclusion and maternal loss–such sensations can lose their context when sandwiched between margins and quotation marks. Yet, theorists in this class helped construct a picture of poetry as the medium of the “other.” In its capacity to defamiliarize, upset ideological assumptions and blur the lines between reader and protagonist, poetry appeals to the heart and mind to consider the different and perhaps disturbing voice. So, the ability of poetry to help a reader feel more deeply for the suffering of another individual was, along with other tools, a well-developed theme within this class. I can also use poetry to challenge my ideological assumptions or biases in a nonthreatening way. Recognizing my knee-jerk reactions to topics like abortion or homosexuality and their underlying (perceived) threat, my reading of poetry can serve as the medium to disrupt impulse and introduce “other side” logic. (ENGL 411 “Approaches to Poetry,” Spring 2018)
Katz is an extremely patient professor, who genuinely cares about his students and their learning outcome. Katz not only understands the struggles of mental health, but was there to help students who were struggling. (ENGL 301, "Science and Culture," Winter 2018)
My lack of interest in other classes I’ve been in, along with other ADHD traits I carry, have always hindered my ability to reach my full academic potential. But, in your class, I felt like I not only reached my potential, but raised the bar I’ve set for myself, boosted my self confidence, and increased my motivation to learn. This has been the first time in my life where I felt that the grades I received were true, earned, unmistaken, and a direct reflection of my hard work put in and knowledge gained in this class. You’ve basically become my role model as a person and as a future teacher. I want all of my students to be able to receive all the same benefits, encouragement, and opportunities to reach their full potentials, in my classrooms, as I did in yours. (ENGL 102, Winter 2018)
The subject and the questions which in this particular class are the same thing. Dr. Katz was genuinely interested that we as a class were invested in the daily reading and vocalized his desire for the class to pick the topic rather than just his own agenda. As a student who has worked so hard to always “see” or guess what a teacher would like to hear, the allowance for unanticipated ideas that would not only challenge a traditional reading but even Dr. Katz’s view, was overwhelmingly positive. It became a safe space for honesty. Instead of asking boring but appropriate questions, this class shines because it can only work if the uncomfortable inquiries pop up. (HNRS 380, “Society, Sentiment, Science,” Spring 2017)
Dr. Katz is one of my all time favorite teachers. He is one of the most intelligent people I know, but the way he differs is within his ability to articulate what’s on his mind so accurately. Because of this, I’ve learned so much from him — being able to hear and thoroughly understand what he knows. He gives a lot of freedom to the class to write about what we want to write about. I love that he encourages us to think, research, and write about things we’re passionate about. Yet, he makes sure we’re using logic and evidence to support those passionate arguments. He ‘s also very willing to accommodate for struggling students while still keeping us up to speed with the rest of the class. (ENGL 101, Fall 2017)
Not only did I learn deeply about democracy, justice, and how to be a more critical reader; I learned so much about how to become a better writer, in so many aspects. ... Dr. Katz always gave me constructive and encouraging feedback that inspired me to refine and improve my work for the sake of learning and growing as a writer. Dr. Katz is not only an amazing educator; he is a kind, caring, and approachable person. ... Dr. Katz is the type of educator that inspires me to want to be an educator, because the impact this class had on me showed me how great of an impact an educator can have on people while in a teaching position. (ENGL 101, Fall 2016)