Faculty: Dr. Jeffrey Owens

Greeting to the Student:
You have honored me by choosing to take my class, and I pledge to do my best to teach you what I believe to be true about the world in which we live. I want you to be successful, not only in school, but also in life, and am willing to listen to any problem or idea you may want to share. Let’s make each semester a growing experience, one that will turn us into wiser and more knowledgeable people who can help others and make the world a better place. I also intend to be pretty funny, so help me out with that too. (lol). Welcome to TJC! Geaux Apaches!

Teaching Philosophy:
History did not happen in a book. Students need to realize that History is a record of decisions made by people like themselves. People are caught in circumstances they did not create, make choices as best they can, and leave consequences that shape the world. Everyone does this, even us; and our descendants will live with the results of our choices. We learn from history by seeing what worked and what didn’t, as well as by watching how people manipulate value systems to achieve benefits for themselves. The over-riding motive for most human actions is selfishness, but the study of history helps us protect our own interests by teaching the value of skeptical observation. I want students to know facts, but also to learn how to think about hat knowledge. I also want them to realize the importance of the sacrifices, ingenuity, hard work, and faith of past generations in creating opportunities that they take for granted. On the other hand, the study of ideas does not move me much, and philosophy (to me) is largely power, competition, self-preservation, and love. In other words, I try to make History seem human, reasonable, and interesting. Many students tell me I’m a good teacher, and I’m glad to be able to spark their interest in this wonderful and important subject.

Method of Evaluation of Students:
Typically, I give 3 tests and no daily work. Each test is worth 100 points out of a total of 400 points that I’ll divide by 4 to get your final grade. On exams, you’ll usually answer two or three essay questions, but you’ll have a study guide with those questions on it a week before the test. The essay section often counts as 60% of a test grade. The remaining points will usually be an objective section of fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, true/false, or matching questions. Don’t expect to do well in this section unless you carefully read the assigned chapters. The essays are based on material presented in lectures, so you must attend class and take notes to know how to answer those. While I do not have any sort of point reward for attendance (per se), it’s very clear from the grades each semester that none of the A students will miss class much at all, and most of the B students attend very regularly. Slackers can sometimes make a C if they’re smart and turn everything in, but don’t count on it.

In addition to the tests, I typically require a couple of out-of-class assignments, such as a book report, a family history project, or a research paper. You’ll have several months to complete these, but some people put it off so long that they flunk out for never starting. Since this is a self-paced assignment, it tests your maturity, as well as your ability to write at a college level. Your grade on these projects will mostly be affected by the content of the work, but also by the grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. Out-of-class projects will be averaged together to make a fourth major grade that is equal in value to a test grade. On tests, I may also sometimes have a small component (maybe 10%) based on an out-of-class paper written about a historical movie I asked you to watch.

Professional Associations:
 I’m a member of the Board of Directors of the East Texas Historical Association, and serve as chairman of the Lucille Terry Historic Preservation Award committee. I also belong to the Texas State Historical Association, the Louisiana Historical Association, and the Gulf South History and Humanities Association. At LSU, I wrote a 966-page dissertation on the Origins of the Levee System on the Lower Mississippi, 1720 to 1845, and was interviewed after Hurricane Katrina by the Wall Street Journal about the flooding in New Orleans. I’ve given scholarly papers for numerous historical associations, including: the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, the Gulf South Historical Association; the East Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas Historical Associations; the Historic Natchez Conference; and a special conference organized by the Southwest Division of the National Archives. Four of my articles have been published in scholarly journals: Agricultural History, Louisiana History, the Georgia Historical Quarterly, and the East Texas Historical Journal. I’ve also reviewed books for the Gulf South Historical Review and the Journal of South Texas, and acted as a blind reviewer for the Journal of Mississippi History. Writing is something I do well and need to spend more time with. On campus, I co-sponsor the Webb Historical Society (the Texas History Club) and work with the UIL Social Studies and Spelling contests (I’m “the pronouncer”). I have served in the Faculty Senate. Recently, I even narrated the childrens; story-telling version of TJC’s Nutcracker ballet!

If it sounds like I’m a work-a-holic, you need to realize that there’s a lot of competition for professional jobs. Whatever you do in life, you’ll need to work hard and work smart to get where you want and then to stay there for the long haul. (Just a few words of wisdom). Networking and persistence are crucial, and so is preparation. You won’t get anywhere in life without it (unless you inherit or marry money J.)