How to Teach College : Secrets from a Master of the Craft

A posthumous book by the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, sharing the strategies and secrets of an award-winning, fifty-year career as a college professor

In addition to being a bestselling author, James W. Loewen was a prizewinning educator, with a career spanning over half a century at institutions including Tougaloo College, Harvard University, the University of Vermont, and the Catholic University of America. Loewen was beloved by his students and won many “best teacher” awards. He had an unusual passion for teaching and took the job very seriously.

How to Teach College is a brilliant distillation of his educational wisdom that will be of interest to many generations of teachers to come, as well as to the millions of fans of Loewen’s other books. It encompasses advice both epic (how to convey a love of one’s topic and motivate students to become lifelong higher learners) and technical (how to plan and manage the classroom, syllabi, lectures, tests, grading, and more)—all drawing on firsthand stories and anecdotes from Loewen’s own courses on sociology and race relations.

With a special emphasis on reaching students from diverse backgrounds and how to teach potentially difficult subjects—particularly relevant in these times—the book comes to us in Loewen’s vibrant, original, and inimitable voice. It will be a lasting part of his legacy and a great gift to a new generation of college (and some high school) teachers.

The manuscript was edited by Loewen’s son, Nicholas Loewen, a longtime high school teacher, and sociology professor Michael Dawon, with whom Loewen shared an early draft.

From the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me comes a profound and practical roadmap for cultivating a rewarding, empowering classroom experience for both teachers and students—brimming with lessons for lifelong learners“Not a few professors teach solely because they have to, to hold a position that lets them do what they really want to do, which is ‘their work’—their research, their writing. . . . Those professors miss the joys of teaching.” —from the introduction to How to Teach CollegeWidely known as a bestselling author and an award-winning college professor for over fifty years, James W. Loewen passed away in 2021, but his words and wisdom live on in How to Teach College. Full of strategies and secrets to inspire and invigorate students, this is a must-read for educational leaders at every level looking to deepen the impact of their teaching and inspire students to stay curious, vigilant, and engaged. How to Teach College is an invaluable resource for professors teaching in increasingly fraught American classrooms. With a special emphasis on teaching students from diverse backgrounds and potentially controversial subjects, this posthumously published book comes to us in Loewen’s vibrant, original, and inimitable voice. In it, he offers advice on:How to make content come alive with vibrancy, leading to knowledge retention, comprehension, and student engagementHow to convey a love of one’s topic and motivate students to become lifelong learners—both in the classroom and outside of itHow to efficiently design a syllabus, manage the classroom, and optimize testing and gradingThe importance of ethics and open-mindedness when it comes to shaping young minds, and how to incorporate freedom of thought into each and every lessonAs a leading sociologist of race relations and a prizewinning college educator with a teaching career spanning over half a century at Tougaloo College, Harvard University, University of Vermont, and Catholic University, Loewen taught the way he wrote: with creativity, humor, and a high expectation that students can handle the truth. Edited by Loewen’s son, himself a fellow educator and longtime high school teacher, as well as sociology professor Michael Dawson, How to Teach College comes as a pivotal moment in history and is sure to inspire and motivate generations of teachers to come.