Chuck O’Connell

Professor

“Sociology is one of the richest fields of inquiry in the college curriculum.”

Chuck O’Connell is a voracious reader. “So when it was time to choose a profession,” he says, “I chose teaching: it’s the only job where you get paid to read.” And though he currently teaches at three different colleges, reading gets heavy emphasis in each of his classrooms.

“I like my students to read everything they can,” says Chuck, “to expose themselves to different kinds of perspective. I like to challenge commonplace notions, to get students to think differently and question forces of indoctrination.” And to get his students to challenge their attitudes regarding class, race and gender, he often arms them with publications as diverse as Ebony and Pravda.

1990 has been a good year for O’Connell, an inveterate surfer who just received his doctorate from UCLA. He says that working at SMC has been “a challenging, dynamic environment.” It might be teaching a class in social change, the Vietnam War or sociological theory, but Chuck O’Connell expects to be excited and involved in his field. “At its best,” says O’Connell, “sociology draws from philosophy, history, political science and anthropology.”

O’Connell feels that campus life “should be a time of retreat from the demands of everyday affairs. It’s a place to get refreshed and discover new ideas. And,” he adds, “if you want excitement in your life, go to school.”

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