Kathi Diamant
Born in New York City, and raised in France, Germany and South Korea, Kathi Diamant is an actress, author, TV producer/anchor and adjunct professor at San Diego State University. She has more than 25 years of broadcast media and print journalism experience in San Diego. Well known to San Diego audiences as the co-host of the long-running morning talk show on KFMB-TV, Sun Up San Diego, Kathi served on staff of KPBS as an anchor/producer until 2008.
Why do you like teaching for Osher?
The students.
Can you talk about a few fun anecdotes about why Osher students are wonderful to teach?
Osher students come to class with a remarkable amount of knowledge and life experience, which they contribute to their classmates. This allows for a dynamic collaboration and connects the learning process to real life, giving whatever we are discussing a deeper, more personal meaning. After a few classes, and I’m able to know the individual students, they become resources themselves, and I’m able to employ their strengths to help make the learning more interactive and fun.
Would you recommend teaching for Osher to others? If yes, why?
Most definitely. I’ve been adjunct faculty at SDSU since 1998, in support of my research into Kafka’s lost letters. While I’ve been a guest lecturer in classrooms and other venues here and abroad, I had never taught a class of my own until my first Osher course (“Loving Kafka”) in 2008. Since then, I’ve taught at least one class, and lately two, each semester, and that has led to other opportunities, including teaching Kafka in the Literature Department at UCSD last year.
Give me the top reasons why students should take an Osher course.
Well, I happen to know that the faculty is excellent, and the courses relevant and wide-ranging. For example, students tell me how much they enjoy and benefit from Peter Bolland’s philosophy, religion and ethics courses. I took folk musician Jim Hinton’s Irish history and music class and loved it. And then there’s Johnny Warriner on film and theatre, and poet Karen Kenyon on creative writing. The list goes on. Just take a look at the Osher fall catalog.
How has teaching Osher students inspired you personally?
Osher students are intelligent and want to learn, to explore new (and old) ideas. They want to continue to be stimulated intellectually, personally and socially. For example, my most recent class was an intermediate writing course, and although class ended at the beginning of May, nearly a dozen of the students formed a new group on Big Tent, and continue to produce writings for group critique. In fact their output is even greater as months go by. When the students continue to meet and continue to produce the required homework, even after the class ends, well, that is the most rewarding result for any teacher.
Is there anything you would like to add that I didn’t ask?
Since 2008, I’ve taught a range of classes on Kafka (Loving Kafka, Kafka in Context, Reading The Trial, The Metamorphosis) as well as Memoir & Life Writing I and II, Travel Writing for Fun & Profit, and Acting & Audition Techniques 101. I also lead monthly book discussions for Osher, mostly fiction and memoir. In the fall, I’ll be teaching Intro to Writing and Critique, Intermediate Writing and Critique, and facilitating Osher Book Club discussions each month.
