Professor adjusts to Purdue
By Patricia Nikolaros
Staff
Writer
When Timothy Owens decided to teach Introduction
to Sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, he
thought he was told he would teach in a new lecture room, filled with
the latest teaching technology.
But for the rest of the semester, Owens taught
about 375 students in a rented movie theater.
He taught on a big stage with an orchestra pit
in front. He had no assistants, no chalkboard, no computer and just
one overhead projector. His students used lapboards for the entire semester.
"That experience knocked the terror out of me,"
he said from behind his office desk in Stone Hall.
With that experience behind him, Owens was ready
to be recruited by Purdue to teach Sociology 100, "Introduction to Sociology,"
replacing Daryl Evans, a professor who died last year.
"Professor Owens came to us at Purdue with not
only the requisite intellectual background and motivation, but also
the actual experience of teaching introductory sociology classes," said
Carolyn Perrucci, sociology department head.
Every day Owens travels an hour and 15 minutes
from his home in Indianapolis to teach in the Class of 1950 lecture
room, which is equipped with the latest teaching technology.
The area of sociology that interests Owens is research,
and because of this he has developed many research projects. As a graduate,
he started recording the social behavior of males in early adulthood.
Owens has monitored this group since 1988 and is still gathering data.
In the spring of 2001, his research on people's
perceptions about the meaning of self-esteem will be the basis for the
computer-assisted telephone interview survey in Sociology 583, "Application
of Social Research Methods," said Perrucci.
Owens is also interested in studying the social
development of adolescents and young adults.
Although Owens is interested in all these projects
now, sociology was not the obvious decision for him. When he graduated
from high school, he went into the Army and was a paratrooper in Vietnam.
When he came home to Minneapolis, he said, the war left him bitter.
"I hated the social sciences; I thought they were a bunch of hogwash."
Owens majored in microbiology for two and a half
years and worked in a hospital. Working at the hospital and taking a
course in sociological theory changed his perspective on the social
sciences.
"That course literally blew my mind," he said.
With that course, Owens came to a realization.
"I like people more than microbes," he said.
During his time as a graduate student at the University
of Minnesota, where he also got his undergraduate degree, he did a little
teaching and a lot of research, but he knew he wanted to do more than
just research.
After leaving Minnesota, Owens taught courses at
IUPUI such as "Introduction to Sociology," "Social Psychology" and "Sociology
of the Life Course," which is a course Owens created. "I like teaching
because I like to explain things and it challenges me to know about
a subject."
After his experience at IUPUI, he came to Purdue
for a change of pace and to be challenged by increased contact with
graduate students when he teaches graduate level courses in the fall.
Another big challenge for Owens in coming to Purdue
is that he teaches one of the largest classes on campus. Chris Sacco,
a sophomore in the School of Liberal Arts and a student in Owens' Sociology
100, said, "Even though it is a big classroom, he still presents himself
like someone that cares about us."
Owens tries to engage in as much interaction with
the students as possible.
"I try to talk to the students. I encourage them
to e-mail me and I walk up and down the aisles in the lecture room,"
he said. "I try to keep my classes interesting by talking about interesting
things that relate to the students and things they did not necessarily
know and can use in their life."
He bases his lectures on PowerPoint and visual
media that demonstrate the ideas talked about in class. Sacco said,
"He shows interesting movies that get my attention."
Even though Owens occupies much of his time with
huge lectures and graduate level interaction, he said the most important
thing in his life is his family. His wife, Sue, is a registered nurse,
and he has three children: Caitlin, 17; Peter, 15; and Sam, 11.
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