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Dr. John Allan Pease, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a tenured Professor who has taught since 1968, and a strong advocate for strengthening academic standards both to enter the University, and to graduate from it. To students of the late 1980s his name might be familiar as the primary author of the "Pease Report"-- a comprehensive review of the state of affairs in education at the University, and suggestions for improvement from the handful of faculty who participated in writing it. Pease is also noteworthy in the number of teaching awards he has garnered over the years. His office is full of accolades ranging from official distinguished teaching awards, to crude handmade awards from his students, fashioned in appreciation for his efforts in teaching.
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Early Years
Pease was born in 1936 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the sixth child of fourteen children. His father was employed by the railroad in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he was raised. Although they survived the Great Depression, the family was poor. Pease learned to be frugal from childhood, and as he matured, he began to identify with others -the poor and the disenfranchised. The first in his family ever to graduate high school, he jokes that he developed an interest in attending college only after he found that it was where all the girls from school had gone. After enrolling in Western Michigan University, he found another passion; learning about "what makes the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep growing poorer." This extended itself towards minorities, indigenous peoples, single parent households, and other people and issues. His studies in inequality in American society, and social stratification particularly address most problems that he sees as issues that need attention, and, hopefully, solutions. Pease worked his way through college, attending first Western Michigan University and Michigan State University, graduating with a doctorate from the latter in 1968, and accepting a position as a Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he continues to teach, and in doing so, inspires others towards a greater social awareness. He also has remained an active member of the Campus Senate and a strong advocate for providing a higher level of education.
"I'd Rather Be Studying"
Pease routinely teaches three undergraduate courses: Introduction to Sociology, Poverty in America, and Social Stratification and Inequality. He is known for his off-beat sense of humor and quirky habits, as well as for creating the "Legend of Sara Bellum," stories about a girl who dies from lack of studying, which he passes out on occasion during his introductory class. Many students enjoy his lighthearted take on the course material, and some claim that his course is the reason why they have become sociologists. He is also the founder of the "I'd Rather Be Studying" gang, who made an attempt at having that phrase become the University motto, though it was struck down because they were told that it didn't sound official enough.
The Art of Teaching
Current Work
Pease is also an occasional contributor to the University of Maryland Diamondback, either with editorials or his Sara Bellum stories.
