It’s mostly Greek to them

Deirdre Newman

When the Nazis captured Greece during World War II, they demanded

that a Greek soldier take down the Greek flag from the Acropolis and

relace it with the Nazi flag.

The soldier was so distraught at the national humiliation that

instead of turning the Greek flag over to the Nazis, he wrapped

himself in it and jumped from the precipice.

He is memorialized with a plaque that graces the Acropolis.

Orange Coast College professor Irini Vallera-Rickerson shared this

story with her students on Monday to illustrate Greek pride in their

country and their independence.

But she doesn’t teach a history class.

Vallera-Rickerson teaches History and Appreciation of Western Art.

She enlivens the class by infusing the curriculum with historical

knowledge and entertaining anecdotes that make the centuries-old

subject matter come alive.

“If I just talked about history and art, they would be bored to

death,” Vallera-Rickerson said. “To me, art is a reflection of the

history, so you can’t teach about paintings [and other art forms]

without historical background.”

The class covers architecture, sculpture and painting from

prehistory to the Gothic era. Topics discussed include art and

architectural vocabulary, styles and important artists and their

major works. The class also requires students to visit both The Getty

Center in Los Angeles and The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

On Monday, Vallera-Rickerson, who has earned the honor of OCC’s

Teacher of the Year and the county Teacher of the Year, discussed the

Hellenic period of Greek art and architecture, spanning from 650 to

323 B.C. She discussed how the ancient Greeks considered sculpture,

architecture and painting to be interconnected.

“I think this is a wonderful concept,” Vallera-Rickerson said.

“It’s how we should design today, too, because a lot of times today,

we do things as an afterthought.”

Vallera-Rickerson is from Greece. She goes back every summer to

attend excavations and restoration projects such as the one at the

Acropolis, which she has been going to since 1985.

On Monday, she also showed how far she is willing to go for her

students when she showed pictures of a private ceremony at the

Acropolis she was able to take only after cajoling a Greek police

officer to let her in.

“It’s extremely important for professors to have firsthand

experience with their subjects, if possible,” Vallera-Rickerson said.

“When you have been in a place, you can talk about it differently.”

She even draws on a Greek method of intellectual discussion -- the

Socratic method -- to involve students in the lecture-oriented class.

She divides them into small groups to answer questions by examining

the relevant concepts.

Thu Ha Tran, 19, said she is inspired by Vallera-Rickerson’s zeal

for the history of art.

“She’s really passionate and makes art history interesting,” Tran

said. “She has a lot of enthusiasm.”

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Deirdre Newman visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about her experience.