At a school with thousands of teachers, it’s hard for a professor to stand out.
Richard Lundman, a professor of sociology at Ohio State, believes the key to being a memorable professor is to simply be a good teacher.
“We know if somebody’s faking; it’s transparent,” Lundman said. “So commitment to effective scholarship [in the classroom] has got to be transparent as well.”
For the past 35 years, Lundman has been teaching sociology at Ohio State. In his time at OSU, he has written books, dozens of scholarly journals, was recognized with the University Distinguished Teaching Award and, according to his estimate, has taught 13,000 students.
He currently teaches three classes on campus: Sociology 410 (Criminology), Sociology 221 (Sociological Aspects of Deviance) and Sociology 618 (Police and Policing). In the past, he has also taught courses on juvenile delinquency, white collar crime, and the prevention and control of crime and delinquency.
Of the classes he has taught, Lundman said the course on policing is his favorite because of the amount of knowledge he has on the subject. Lundman estimates he has put almost 40 years of research and writing into the subject of policing, and has taught that class longer than he has taught criminology and deviance. Lundman also likes that his students enjoy it.
“I teach it at 7:30 a.m., and [the classroom] fills!” Lundman said, laughing.
Lundman went to Beloit College in Wisconsin. It was there that he decided to become a sociology professor by “blind luck,” after taking a course on the subject from a very influencing professor. Lundman believes the class influenced him so much that if he were to never take it, he wouldn’t have become a professor.
“There’s no doubt that course was the event that pointed me towards being a professor,” Lundman said.
After receiving his undergraduate degree in sociology from Beloit, Lundman went on to receive his master’s from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, then received his doctorate from University of Minnesota, both in sociology. He taught at the University of Delaware for three years before coming to OSU, where he has been teaching ever since.
One thing that sets Lundman apart from other professors is how much time he spends in the company of street cops. Lundman often takes part in police ride-alongs, where he will ride along with a police officer in a squad car and experiences first-hand how cops respond to calls, how they behave towards wrongdoers, and how and why they make arrests.
When he teaches Honors courses, which are considerably smaller than non-Honors courses, Lundman is able to have the class participate in police ride-alongs. He also takes them on field trips to prisons and jails.
Aside from all the research he has done, Lundman credits his good teaching to preparation and hard work. Lundman said that every class he walks in fully prepared and ready to try his best to teach the class that day’s lesson.
Lundman believes each class comes down to 95 percent preparation and five percent adventure, with the “adventure” depending on the students’ reactions to the lesson. Lundman said that sometimes the students react well, and sometimes they don’t. When they do respond and ask questions, raising “scholarly excitement,” the class is a success.
“Sometimes questions are better than answers,” Lundman said.
Why does Lundman prepare so much for his classes? Lundman said his favorite part about teaching is being with the students. As a teacher, he described himself as someone who cares about the students and is dedicated to honoring their commitment to learning.
Although Lundman can retire at the end of this school year, he will remain a teacher as long as he continues to enjoy his job and does it well.
“I will just be like the Energizer Bunny and keep going and going and going,” Lundman said.
If you’re interested in taking a course with Professor Lundman, he will be teaching two courses Winter Quarter: Sociology 210 (Sociological Aspects of Deviance) and Sociology 618 (Sociology of Police and Policing), both on Tuesdays and Thursdays. His 618 class is from 7:30 to 9:18 a.m., and 210 runs from 11:30 a.m to 1:18 p.m.
