Standing Room Only

Christan Amundsen’s unique style of teaching psychology keeps his classes full and students begging to get in

By Kristina Walton
Staff Writer

When Human Sexuality changed classrooms on the first day of school, professor Christan Amundsen didn’t post a normal sign on the door. Instead, he created a sign that read “FOR SEX (class) Room A347.”

This caught the attention of not only his students but others as well who wandered up to the room curious about what was going on. This is an example of the creative mind of Amundsen, who never does anything in a mundane way.

“I know people who changed their majors (to psychology) because of him,” said Christopher St. John, a student in Amundsen’s Human Sexuality class. “He changes people’s perspectives.”
Amundsen’s love for the campus is brought into the classroom. With almost all sections of his psychology classes filled in two days, students approached the Liberal Arts office hoping to catch a spot that opened up.

“He makes it fun and interesting,” said Angie Haffener, another student in his class.

The outgoing Amundsen is a well-rounded and knowledgeable individual. He has two graduate degrees in two different areas — one in clinical psychology and the other in philosophical theory from Chapman University and SMU, respectively.

He originally came to Irving to be with his son but remained here as an adjunct instructor three years ago. Fortunately for North Lake College, a full-time position became available and as he put it, “Viola! Here I am!” This is his second year as NLC’s full-time professor of psychology.

He hasn’t taken a minute for granted here, he said. “There is something really special about North Lake College. Some students are struggling and some could make it anywhere. There is so much potential here. I think of it as the faculty’s job to ignite that spark in the students,” he said.

Richard Stieber, an adjunct instructor of sociology and administrative assistant to the dean of Liberal Arts, could only say warm things about his close friend and colleague. “He is an authentic and open-hearted person. He is well-grounded spiritually, and that is a very important consideration for him because he has some idea of who he is as an individual. From that, everything else about Christan follows. It influences how he interacts as a person and how he performs his role as teacher.”

What makes Amundsen’s teaching style unique is his passion for it. “I really care about the students and I get to know them. I think of teaching as a good partnership. The key to it all is having passion for it. If you care about what you’re teaching and you believe in it, your students are going to feed off of you. It’s infectious.”

St. John is currently taking his fourth class from the professor. He said, “He takes a Socratic approach to class. He never shoots anyone down blindly.”

Stieber said there’s nothing phony or contrived about Amundsen. “What you see is what you get,” he said, “He has a way of genuinely engaging either an individual relationship or a classroom full of students.

“I think they sense his genuineness.”