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Katchadourian, Herant A

Herant Katchadourian begins by discussing his early life in Turkey, his family, and his family’s move to Lebanon. He discusses a prolonged illness in his childhood and the impact of this on his life and his schooling, including his time at American University of Beirut. He discusses his struggle over choosing a career path, and his eventual decision to pursue a career in medicine, specifically psychiatry. Katchadourian discusses his medical training and residency at the University of Rochester. He discusses his return to Lebanon, his research during this time, and meeting his wife Stina. He tells the story of being recruited to Stanford by David Hamburg (whom he had met previously) and his first experiences on campus, including advocating for the teaching of a human sexuality class, which he went on to develop and teach. He notes his time as University Ombudsman and a University Fellow. He discusses how he became involved in the Human Biology program, his contributions to the development of the HumBio curriculum, as well as the continued development and popularity of his Human Sexuality class. He discusses his experience with colleagues in HumBio, the structure of the program, and other courses he developed. Katchadourian goes on to discuss his time as Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Vice Provost and major issues he dealt with while serving in the university administration. He notes longitudinal studies he conducted with students during this time, including an analysis of student types.

The way it turned out

Spanning seven decades, this memoir is an account of the life of Herant Katchadourian on three continents: The Middle East, Europe, and the United States. While the memoir is highly distinctive, the issues the author focuses on have many features that are common with other people's lives, such as the role of chance and the reconstruction of past events in the light of the present. The book is the account of a fascinating life that is not only interesting to read but instructive by placing the various stages and facets of life in their historical and cultural contexts.

Human sexuality; sense and nonsense