Shannon KeoughDr. Andrew Owen, a part-time instructor for several years, became a full-time professor for sociology and criminology this year.
Owen’s new office on the second floor of Grace Hall, currently has bare walls, empty shelves and a single desk with a computer. Owen said he could not wait to fill the space with items that reflect his personality.
Owen, who is originally from Britain, was born in Bangor, North Wales and grew up in Holyhead, an island 24 miles from Bangor.
“When I went for my B.A., I was 23 and I was initially interested in things like acting and film making,” Owen said. He attended the University of Wales in Bangor.
Owen said, “I am very interested in the history of horror films. It doesn’t matter when from. It could be from the silent era such as ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ from when the silent films began to talk such as ‘Frankenstein,’ from the mid 20th century such as ‘The Curse of Frankenstein,’ then I could talk about the modern era such as ‘The Thing.'”
Owen explained how his interest in horror films sparked his interest in sociology.
“In terms of sociology, I am very interested in why certain horror films have been censored or banned in certain countries, and that led me to sociology,” Owen said.
The idea of censorship is Owen’s main concentration in sociology as well as criminology.
“In connection to censorship, if you say that criminology is the study of what is deviant, then if you ban a movie in society, you are essentially labeling that movie deviant and to watch that movie is a crime,” Owen said.
Owen lives with his wife, Leanne, who is originally from Kansas. They have a pet Betta fish named Small Fry.
Owen and his wife met in Bangor, and after his wife got a job in Philadelphia in 2002, they decided to make the city their permanent residence in 2003.
“We both really enjoyed the city and the people and that’s when we decided it would be nice to make a home here,” Owen said.
In the fall of 2003, Owen was hired as an adjunct professor at Cabrini. Owen said that he really enjoyed working at Cabrini because of the class sizes, students and location. This year is Owen’s first time holding a full-time teaching position.
“I think one of the main things I am excited about is the opportunity to be full-time, to have more time to have discussions with the students, to be more actively involved with the students and what they are doing with sociology and criminology,” Owen said.
According to Owen, teaching goes two ways. He enjoys learning from the students as they learn from him. Owen went on about his favorite thing about being at Cabrini.
“My favorite thing is getting to know the students, because coming from Britain it is nice to meet Americans. Being interested in sociology and society and culture, it’s great for me to meet Americans and they can talk to me about their culture and I can talk to them about British culture and we can interact,” Owen said.
Owen said that he likes to watch a lot of movies. He said that he is known to sit down and watch a five-hour-long silent film.
Owen said that he also enjoys soccer. His favorite team is the Blackburn Rovers from Lancaster, Britain.
“I hope that as the students get to know me as I’m teaching a course, they get quite happy and comfortable enough to come talk to me and ask me any questions,” Owen said.
