Each of his classes is focused on a particular set of ideas, and he expects his students to learn them. But rather than launching a direct assault on their memories, he tries instead to provoke reflection. Questions are asked, proportions suggested, ideas plotted on spectrums in order to stimulate a manner of thinking, one which will persist when the details of a given course are forgotten. He finds that this pedagogy generates a certain intensity. Students quickly sense that they are contributors to a larger dialogue, whose significance transcends deadlines and grades.
Strategies naturally differ.
In small classes, he uses the Socratic method , and he has taken the lead in developing a series of Great Books seminars in the USC South Carolina Honors College which highlight this approach. Examinations and essay assignments are designed to encourage a similar elenchos. Professor Cutsinger has a special concern for promoting good writing. In courses with an essay requirement, every student receives a copy of his Breviary of English Usage , a short handbook developed at the start of his teaching career and revised many times. A quick glance at this breviary is enough to demonstrate how seriously he takes his responsibilities in this domain.