Liam Felsen, associate professor of English, collects swords in his spare time.

He said the swords in his office are mainly replicas from different movies.

“The swords in my office are: Glamdring, originally forged by the Elves of Gondolin for their king, Turgon,” Felsen said. “Also, a replica of the Sword of Witchking of Angmar, the leader of the Ringwraith and Sting, the sword of Bilbo which is later passed on to Frodo and then Sam.”

Students have also given him swords

“A student gave me a sword I don’t know anything about,” he said. “It just looks cool.”

He said he also has a passion for teaching.

Felsen said, at first, he didn’t know he wanted to be an educator. He began his college education at the University of Maryland for aerospace engineering.

He said after failing all of his classes except for poetry, he decided to pursue a degree in English.

After attending a few colleges he got his bachelor’s in English and linguistics at San Diego State University. He later received his doctorate at the University of Oregon.

Felsen left graduate school and came directly to IU Southeast. He has been working here for seven years now.

He said he enjoys what he does because he’s someone who loves to read books and discuss them.

“Just being in the classroom is a rush,” Felsen said. “I get to come in and do my thing. It’s just who I am. It’s not a job. It’s a lifestyle.”

He teaches British literature and now teaches a class on J.R.R. Tolkien, which he said is his favorite to teach.

He said the Tolkien course is not only about reading “The Lord of the Rings” series.

“We not only read the text but also discuss how and why it was all written, plus supplementary material,” Felsen said. “We did do a lot of reading but I felt, and I think the class felt, that it was very rewarding,” Felsen said.

He has only taught his Tolkien class once but he said he was recently asked by the Modern Language Association to write an article for their Volume of Approaches to Teaching Tolkien.

He will be writing the article based on his experience teaching the class.

Felsen takes a different approach to teaching than most professors.

He said after graduate school, he realized he hadn’t learned anything beyond the material.

He said he didn’t really learn to teach until he got into the classroom because he learns from re-reading the material and from students’ questions.

“We all have something to learn, so my teaching philosophy is ‘we are in this together,’” Felsen said.

He said he’s didn’t become a teacher to hand out and grade papers, but to have discussions about the literature he enjoys.

“I’m a guide because I know more about the
subject at this point but
students and I just discuss and teach each other,” Felsen said.

Rand Harmon, a friend and former colleague of Felsen’s, said he thinks that all of Felsen’s students feel comfortable in his classroom.

“Great discussions naturally swirl when Liam is around, so I’m sure this is the case in every class,” Harmon said.

Harmon said he was impressed with Felsen’s easy-going personality and relaxed style. Felsen not only takes an easy-going outlook on his teaching but also in his busy life.

Felsen said he recently remarried. He and his wife Claire have a large family between her three children and his two children.

“Anything we do as a family is a big production,” Felsen said. “If we want to go to the YMCA to swim, it takes seven swimsuits and seven towels. When we are all done we have to do a load of laundry with all the clothes.”

He said even though family outings are hard, they do hold yearly passes to The Louisville Science Center and The Louisville Zoo.

He also said they
sometimes enjoy a day at the park as a family. Felsen said one of his greatest challenges is balancing his career and family life.

“I want to give as much to my students as to my family, without taking away from anyone,” Felsen said.

When he has spare time, he said he likes to play golf.

He said he’s been having a tough year playing sports because, last January, he tore his Achilles tendon playing basketball. He said he was on crutches for 10 weeks and was on a walking boot for a month.

He said he still isn’t allowed to run or play, but is hoping to rehabilitate enough to walk in the Derby mini-marathon.

By CHASTITY HILGERT
Staff Writer
chilgert@umail.iu.edu