Ted DesMaisons

When I came to NMH in 2002 as a chaplaincy intern, I fell in love with the place right away. I knew it was a great fit. I didn’t want to be anyplace else. My background is a little unusual—I graduated from Stanford Business School and Harvard Divinity School—but it demonstrates my desire to combine both the mathematical and emotional, the logical and the spiritual. 

I particularly enjoy teaching Humanities I, partly because freshmen don’t know who they are yet, and they’re not afraid to acknowledge that. The Hum I curriculum is right in my wheelhouse—the questions we’re raising have that ministerial angle: Who am I? What is my place? What does it mean to be human? How then shall we live? I love that Humanities I examines students’ personal world views, and then in Hum II, we say, “Okay, folks, it’s not all about you. Here’s the rest of the world.”  

As a teacher, I don’t use many tests or quizzes. Instead I provide opportunities for experience in critical thinking. When we study Buddhism in Eastern Religions and Humanities II, we do an exercise on mindfulness using rice cakes and fruit. I lead the class through a silent meditation and ask them to look at the food and consider how it was grown and produced, how many hands have touched it, and how it got to our classroom. They have to take one bite at a time and chew it at least 30 times, noticing how the food changes and feels in their mouths. We do all this silently for about 25 minutes. By the end, they’re noticing things like “If I savor the food, it has more flavor,” or “I feel connected to so many other beings just by stopping to notice like this.” Such realizations help students carry the concepts into the rest of their lives; for instance, they begin wondering, “What if I’m more mindful when I’m speaking with my friends?” or “What have I been taking for granted that I want to be thankful for?” 

NMH’s religious heritage and current way of teaching religion are both precious to me. Our department has this incredible lineage of teachers of great faith and practice—and we’re fully committed to religious pluralism. As a result, I get real freedom in the way I teach; I don’t have to teach religion as specific dogma or strict history. Religious studies matters here too—we require two full-credit courses because we recognize the importance of self-understanding and religious fluency. 

I’m also head coach for the girls varsity softball team. It’s a passion for me; when softball season rolls around, it’s hard to think of anything else. It’s fun to have a competitive team—I’m pushing the girls to do their best, and they’re pushing themselves. One great thing about coaching is that it can be wordless. For all the intellectual stuff I enjoy, softball can come down to “Just throw the darn ball.” I love that.