DR. SAM BROWN

PROFESSIONAL

  • Online Faculty member in the Social Sciences Department since 2005.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Sociology (University of Pennsylvania, 1990)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • Past member of the American Sociological Association

RESEARCH INTEREST

  • I tend to devote more time these days to honing my teaching skills rather than pursuing research.

PERSONAL

The first part of my life was spent in Kendall Park, New Jersey (between Princeton and New Brunswick in the center of the state). My three brothers and I all went to Rutgers University-the free tuition, courtesy of my Dad being a Professor of Social Work there, was a definite financial plus. Having worked in a public library in high school I decided to attend the Library School at Rutgers right after graduation. A year and a half later I received my Masters Degree (M.A.) and found a job as a reference librarian in Mobile, Alabama at Spring Hill College. It was quite an adventure having my first full-time job and living on my own in a new part of the country.

Soon after starting the job I realized that to get ahead in academic librarianship one should have a second, subject-specific M.A. This started a two year process of getting an M.A. degree in sociology at the University of South Alabama in the evenings while working full-time in the day. My experience studying and working at the same time has given me an appreciation of what many of my students are going through-I know what it's like to have no social life :-)

Around the time that I was finishing my degree I had my first 'mid-life' crisis-I was 25 years old so maybe it was a 'quarter-life' crisis. Wanting to have more of an impact on students' lives I decided to leave librarianship to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology--my college major-and teach in a university. I went to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, supporting myself by being an adjunct instructor at St. Joseph's College and working as a research assistant. Five years later I left Philly with a Ph.D. and a wife-we met while Israeli folk dancing-to begin a tenure-track position in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Fordham University in New York.

During my five years at Fordham we lived in Hackensack, New Jersey and my wife and I started our family-we have two teenagers. This was the beginning of my sense of being pulled apart. As a faculty member I was expected to do course preparation, research, and grading at night and on weekends. However, when the kids were infants and toddlers I wanted to spend that time with them and in helping out my wife with all of the chores associated with having young kids.

Enter my second 'mid-life' crisis. I realized how much I missed the Monday to Friday, nine to five world of librarianship, especially being able to leave the job behind at the end of the day. So I returned to academic libraries, getting a job as a reference librarian at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. After a couple of years I decided to go into library administration and have worked as Library Director at Albertus Magnus College and Naugatuck Valley Community College, both in Connecticut. For the past ten years I have taught numerous on-ground and on-line sociology courses.

For those of you counting, I have worked at five Catholic institutions of higher education-three Jesuit (Spring Hill, St. Joe's, and Fordham), one Diocesan (Seton Hall) and one Dominican (Albertus Magnus). Not bad for a 'nice Jewish boy'-my guardian angel must be Catholic :-)

Most of my free time is devoted to spending time at home with my wife and two children in Cheshire, Connecticut. We had an adventure in 2001 when I exchanged jobs for four weeks during the summer with an academic library director in Chelmsford, England (in Essex County). Our families switched homes and cars during this time and we were able to experience the country somewhat as residents rather than solely as tourists. While I worked the family did sightseeing around town and in London and on the weekends we were able to go on day trips. Truly a memorable experience.

I am a volunteer with Project Amigo [http://www.projectamigo.org/how-you-help/volunteer.php] and I travel to Colima, Mexico every year or so to participate in a work week. I am pleased to be involved with such a worthwhile organization. These trips also give me the opportunity to visit my Mexican ‘parents’ and ‘brothers’ with whom I stayed over 30 years ago as an exchange student in the summer after high school.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My teaching philosophy stresses creating a welcoming environment where students feel free to communicate with the instructor and each other in a nonjudgmental and constructive manner. Critical thinking will be encouraged, in particular its use in tying theoretical concepts to practical everyday experiences. There will be an expectation of clear and concise writing that emphasizes proper spelling, grammar, and the logical presentation of ideas. Course content will be related to learning outcomes, which will in turn be assessed through a variety of measures. Students will be given the expectations for assessments and will receive feedback as they progress through the course.