Instructor of the Year: Amy Schwartz

Teacher, historian, environmentalist, Buddhist, bicyclist, baker, Exeter alumna, history instructor: Amy Schwartz has taught a wide range of historical subjects during her 15 years at the Academy. As a faculty adviser to Animal Rights Club, gardener, vegetarian and scholar of Asian history, Schwartz’s eclectic interests encompass many aspects of the Exeter community. Her sense of humor is well-loved by her many friends and colleagues, and her high standards for learning, both inside and outside the classroom, challenge others to follow her example as a true intellectual.

When she was in high school, Schwartz had numerous talents and interests. Parciularly, she held a great love of music: Schwartz devoted much time to learning different instruments. She played the oboe and was so talented that she could have gone to conservatory.

“I’d spent my entire childhood investing in that, doing that at a high level, and I had a lot of training,” she said.

Before her teaching career, Schwartz attended the Waldorf School, which fostered her natural artistic talents. “We did art, we did music, we did theater, we did sculpture, we did gardening, we did carpentry—we did all of that stuff. You know, I knit, I crocheted, I sewed and I painted,” she said.

“She is just a powerhouse of loving energy. It may not always feel that way, because she can be very critical, but in the end it is because she cares so much about what she does.”

After high school, Schwartz took a gap year to participate in an outdoor leadership program in Vermont, where she learned the techniques of farming. She then attended Wesleyan University and decided to pursue a major called “Collage of Letters.”

“It was like history, literature and philosophy combined, because I didn’t want to do just one of them. I couldn’t decide,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz has had a passion for Asian history since she began teaching at her previous high school. She explained that she did not go looking for an interesting course to teach, but rather the opportunity came to her. Schwartz has taught Asian history courses every year she has been at Exeter, along with teaching formats of United States history. Schwartz said that she particularly marvels at the multitude of unique cultures in Asia, and works to combat the common misconception that Asian cultures are very similar.

“Japan, Korea, China—they could not be more different … [their culutres are] tremendously diverse,” she said.

Schwartz is known campus wide as a challenging teacher who helps students to delve deeply into the ideas written in history texts. “She really cares about digging into the heart of what are sometimes difficult texts, and while [her students] might not get every single word, they’re capable of really challenging themselves with difficult texts and then using the table together to try to peel those apart,” Schwartz’s long time friend, history instructor Margaret Foley, said.

She added that Schwartz teaches students about not only historical events, but also about new ways to learn history in general. “She really takes seriously that [teachers here] are helping students learn to become better thinkers, and to learn to not just better articulate themselves but to be conscious of the sources of their logic and to be logical thinkers,” Foley said.

Senior Zaidee Laughlin, who took History 333 with Schwartz last spring, said that although Schwartz was a challenging teacher, she cared deeply about her students. “As hard as she was, she just really wanted the kids in her class to succeed,” Laughlin said. “She has a very calm presence.”

Laughlin believes Schwartz’s greatest gift to her students was the lessons she gave them in writing. “All of us [in Schwartz’s 333 class] were at different writing levels, and that didn’t bother her at all. She took the time for us,” Laughlin said. “And she just made sure that no one left that class without knowing how to write a clear paper that proved a point.”

Laughlin said that Schwartz was a formidable presence at the Harkness table, managing to both entertain and educate her students. “She’s also just really interesting. She has so much knowledge and then she starts talking in class and has all these awesome anecdotes and it’s just all fantastic,” Laughlin said. “I love her so much.”

In addition to teaching history at Exeter, Schwartz is a devout Buddhist who often attends Friday night meditation with other faculty. “I love learning from her about Tibetan Buddhism,” Foley said. She added that she loves listening to Schwartz describe navigating real world issues, while observing the beliefs of Buddhism. When Foley asked Schwartz how a Buddhist would exterminate ants, she responded, “You usher them kindly out. You would never kill thoughtlessly, you would kill with great care and attention.”

Because the Tibetan Buddhist faith discourages any violence, Schwartz is a vegetarian. “I’ve trained myself to not kill things, not slap bugs,” she said. However, she does this not only out of adherence to the tenets of her faith, but also because she has always cared for animals, especially cats. That is why she serves as faculty adviser to Exeter’s Animal Rights Club.

“It’s good work,” she said about the club. “It needs to be done. There’s not a lot of awareness on campus.”

Schwartz’s friends and students can attest to her wry humor and upbeat personality. “I always hear this uproarious laughter from her classroom,” Foley said. “She used to have this thing, this inflatable hammer or gavel, the ‘Wompet,’ and if somebody said something outrageous she would pound it on the table and people would burst out laughing.”

Religion instructor Kathy Brownback spoke to both sides of Schwartz’s personality: the serious and the humorous. “She’s always my go-to person, whether I want to laugh or have something serious to discuss,” Brownback said. “She is just a powerhouse of loving energy. It may not always feel that way, because she can be very critical, but in the end it is because she cares so much about what she does.”

Brownback continued that Schwartz, had taught her “steadfast friendship over time, even when [they] disagreed, and an intense sense of presence and connection.” Brownback added, “she always used to joke that she is ‘irreverent,’ but in fact she has more reverence for life than anyone I know.”