Hutton Honors College

Caswell Continues to Enjoy Honors Teaching

I started out a 7-year-old boy in a church choir," Austin Caswell says. His handlebar mustache and plaid shirt give the impression that some of that 7-year-old charm still informs his beaming personality. "I liked teaching music," Emeritus Professor of Music Caswell continues. "But I like honors teaching more." Caswell has been teaching at Indiana University for 30 years, and has been teaching honors courses for most of that time. Retired from the School of Music, he continues to guide students through the Ideas and Experience "great books" sequence, H211 and H212. He has attempted to retire once, but his love for the students and the classes in the Hutton Honors College energizes him.

"It wasn't a matter of coming back," he clarifies. "Teaching is the most exciting thing I can think of doing."

Caswell craves intellectual excitement, and it doesn't take long to realize that his teaching methods are drastically different from the norm. Every semester, students, and not just freshman, line up to find out how and why. It may explain why Caswell isn't planning on giving up honors teaching again anytime soon.

Caswell approach to teaching has been novel and energetic since his first day in front of a class. "My first job was at a boy's prep school in Vermont. I had a degree in music, but I was teaching English and Latin." He stretches back on the Forest lounge couch and crosses his blue-jeaned legs on the table before him. "There were about 12-15 guys, aged 16 or so in the class. I read a little bit of this, read a little bit of that, but no one was talking." He lets out a hearty laugh. "Of course I was getting pretty confident, so I sat back in my chair." He mimics the motion as he confidently crosses his arms and shares an I must be pretty good at this smirk. "But I must have leaned back a little too far, because I fell right over." He breaks out into laughter, then wipes a few tears of joy from his eyes. "There was dead silence for 10 seconds, but then I started to laugh. And we all began to laugh at each other for another 10 minutes. From that time on, I was the best teacher anyone had seen. I was a human being, and that stuck with me."

Caswell has that same egalitarian vision for teaching honors undergraduates. He wants to be human; he doesn't want to be the professor. "I don't like tests; I think they're a policing action," he says. "I've never met a professor who's liked giving tests, and I've been teaching longer that anyone's been alive." The 74-year-old Caswell has been teaching for nearly 50 years. "People don't fall asleep in my class. I force people to participate," he says.

His approach to teaching is all about dialogue. Even when teaching lectures of nearly 200 students, he always focuses on interaction. It's a standard that some students love, but others fear. "Any kid should feel free to come up with an opinion," Caswell iterates. "I don't treat undergrads any different that I would graduate students." He smiles. "The business structure of power vs. student is seriously eroded in my classes."

That may be why Caswell's classes fill semester after semester. "Kids fight their way into this class," says student Arielle Morrison. "His class is full within the first two minutes of registration. Students seem to like the idea of having to take a class based on opinion." Arielle was a student in Professor Caswell's H211 seminar a few semesters back, and now acts as a teaching assistant for this semester's class. "I love to talk and I enjoy writing, that's why I took the class. It's the most fun course I've taken, sort of like a breath of fresh air, considering there is no lecture." That's why she's back for another round. Honors H211 and H212 are offered during both the spring and fall semesters, yet each course focuses on different topics. "First we study the ancient, and then we move to the modern. I'm always leaning something new," Morrison says.

Caswell's mustache can barely hide his smile. "She's nailed down the essential stuff," he laughs.

Morrison smiles and quietly asks if she can step out. She's late to her next class. As she eases off the couch, Caswell grabs her hand and thanks her for sharing her time. It's clear Caswell enjoys the easy interaction he has with his students. He has devoted the past 50 years to changing students' outlook on teacher/student interactions. "I had a friend who didn't like to speak and as a result of this class, she's more vocal," Morrison says, before she disappears down the stairway.

"Many students are intimidated," Caswell laughs. "It takes a while for everyone to open up."

Caswell thinks the Hutton Honors College provides the same opportunities for intellectual experiences that he had as an undergraduate at Amherst College in Massachusetts. "It's a highly selective group of smart kids that want to be here," he says about the HHC. "Students take my classes because it's relevant to what higher education is all about--the study of the literature of the liberal arts in a seminar setting--and I can't argue with that," he says. "There's always something to argue about, and that's beautiful."

In fact, Caswell won't let you leave the room until you argue with him. And he says he isn't going anywhere soon, so his advice to students is to start talking. "After 50 years, I'm still happy to come into the classroom and start talking, and listening. I won't stop until I need to slow down, or someone tells me to."

Elyse Heckman