Dr. Tom Isern is in his 50th year of teaching. After teaching in Kansas, the same state in which he earned his Bachelor’s degree, Isern was searching for a position at a land grant university—something to match his background in the Plains. He started at NDSU as a Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, eventually realizing his true passion for teaching. Isern then switched back to teaching, something he noted as being “one of the greatest decisions of (his) life…that and marrying Dr. Kelley.” Dr. Isern teaches a multitude of courses at NDSU, including but not limited to American History Survey, Methods of Research and Writing and specialties in upper-division history. He also teaches PhD students. His favorite class to teach is North American Plains, something he enjoys because of his history in said plains.
Isern’s life outside of college includes many hobbies (turned passions), even though “there are people who think I don’t do anything but work.” He is “currently doting on a 12-week-old labrador retriever puppy.” He also enjoys the outdoors—“from gardening to fishing to deer hunting (in Western Kansas on a family farm originating in 1874).” Isern enjoys cooking and reading. He believes that one must keep reading because “the neurons won’t fire unless you keep firing them by intake.” He also enjoys writing folk music, a passion that his wife, Dr. Kelley, helps him with by serving as a producer. His favorite is writing ballads of the Great Plains. Other than those hobbies, Isern enjoys being a grandfather and great-grandfather.
Isern started his collegiate career in English. He also “thought (he) was a basketball player in those days.” However, his plans quickly changed when he “found out there were a lot of better basketball players out there” and that he couldn’t get into a literature course in his first semester of college. Isern notes that “as an 18-year-old (he) was easily angered…but also as (he) went along a couple years (he) realized, ‘oh, yeah, historians.’” When he realized that historians were “book-y people” like himself, he decided to change directions in his academic pursuit. He went on to earn his MA and PhD in History at Oklahoma State University. “I would say [my degrees] are in Western Americana. The American West.”
Isern’s teaching philosophy is a mix of technology and old-school aims. He believes that teaching “ought to be a full contact scrimmage.” Isern considers himself to be “not just a boomer,” but beyond that. This plays into his teaching through his hands-on approaches. He believes in real experience. He believes in asking questions to his students and in giving them hands-on experience. He “teaches as a historian,” not just a professor.
When asked what he has learned from his students, Dr. Isern said that he had learned persistence. He said that his classes involve attendance and research. They require commitment. He “teaches a profession.” He noted that when he holds his students to these higher standards, “they snap to.” The ones that are serious about this, not just taking general classes, give the kind of commitment that they realize is necessary.
Dr. Isern mentioned that he has also learned to think in different ways from his students. He brought up some students of his that had been doing cloud cataloging of artifacts. He realized how much this new generation of students craves to use their hands in their research. He noticed that they appreciated being able to touch artifacts and look at them from different angles. Isern commented that Gen Z reminds him of his generation—that he feels he has been alive long enough to see his generation again. This comparison comes from Gen Z’s passion for tactile learning through things like vinyl records. He also emphasized the importance of communication to this new generation of students. Isern noted that he believes this communication helps him in his role as a grandfather and great-grandfather because he is able to understand the younger generations of his family better.
Isern’s favorite lesson from a student was from a recent PhD student. This student is from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and teaches at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. He is referred to as “Leksi” by some of his students, a term Dr Isern disclosed as meaning “father of mother.” Fathers of mothers often take more of a disciplinary role when necessary than the parents. This tells Dr. Isern that this professor serves both a responsibility and a teaching role to his students. He said this taught him about how we should address one another in communication and how “we ought to care about the quality (of communication).”