Jonathan Evans is running late.

He hurries into class a few minutes after it is supposed to begin. His arms are wrapped around a bundle of papers.

Jonathan Evans reads a passage of ‘Beowulf’ in Park Hall. He teaches medieval languages and literature. Photo by Rachel Bunn

He sets his bundle on the table in the front of the room, picking a paper out of the pile. It is a sign with a note: “Send student if too noisy to room 268.”

“But which one to send?” Evans says.

Ben Coffee, one of Evans’ students, raises his hand, and the students collectively chuckle. Class has begun.

“I try to keep my classes interesting,” Evans said. “I do this by not heavily scripting the syllabus or class. I generally don’t use notes. I go into class with a basic knowledge I want to convey.”

Evans spends the beginning of his class handing out papers. In a previous class, a student had asked about Old English terms pertaining to kinship.

“I probably spent more time on this than I should have,” Evans told the student.

Evans is known for going off topic when he finds something that interests him.

“He has a very ADD teaching style,” Coffee said.

Marcus Berger, a linguistics graduate student, said Evans tries to incorporate things of interest to students in his class.

“He’s very enthusiastic about [his research],” Berger said. “He’s knowledgeable.”

Evans gets a good deal of satisfaction from pursuing his curiosities.

“I would describe myself as an enthusiastic dilettante — interested in too many things to limit

become a true expert,” he said.

For Evans, teaching is more important than writing. He described his academic writings as a “small body of work” mostly involving chapters or articles in larger collected volumes. He has only written two books.

“I think writing effective research articles — encyclopedias and things — I think that’s extremely important,” Evans said.

For Evans, these reference works are a way to pass his knowledge on to students. And for him, that’s what his research is all about.

“Most of us learn from our own experience — we learn from others. I tell stories,” he said. “I give anecdotes to tell students how I came to acquire this information, as a way of fleshing out this bare bones intellectualism.”

Tolkien

For Evans, it all started with Tolkien. As a sophomore in high school, his cousin suggested he try reading a book called “The Lord of the Rings.”

Tolkien became the reason Evans launched his academic career.

“I discovered he was an Oxford scholar of Old English. I thought, ‘That must be a pretty darn good thing to do,’” Evans said.

He enrolled in Asbury College intending to follow in Tolkien’s footsteps as an English scholar, and took a class on Chaucer taught in Middle English.

“I developed an interest in the history of words,” he said. “But I wanted Old English.”

One day, Evans got into his car and drove to the University of Kentucky bookstore in nearby Lexington, Ky., to buy an Old English textbook.

Though he did not make much progress in the book, he aspired to get his Ph.D. in Old English, which he eventually did at Indiana University. He got his first teaching job soon after graduation at the University in 1984.

In May, he is teaching a class about “Beowulf,” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and how Tolkien made use of these two works in his own body of publication. For Evans, everything comes back to Tolkien.

Class interest

Interest in Evans’ Old English course has increased. His class used to average 20 to 25 students, but has averaged 30 to 35 students in recent years. Evans said it’s the class subjects that keep students filling the seats.

“The reality is anybody who thinks medieval Old English is out-of-step or old-fashioned fails to recognize people love language, people are fascinated by language. Even a line worker or construction worker — people love verbal wit.”

Berger said as a linguistics student, he sees Old English as a useful course for his studies. Coffee, who is a member of a medieval reenactment group, said he thought it would be cool to take Old English as part of the medieval studies certificate he is pursuing. He sees Old English as a building block.

“If you were a physics major, you would learn about theories to make you understand it better,” he said. “Learning about Old English could possibly help me understand my language better.”

According to Coffee, the class and Evans had good reviews on the Rate My Professor website.

“As a person, I think Dr. Evans is a very fun guy to be around,” Coffee said. “He seems like a person I could get lost in conversation with.”

Berger also finds Evans funny and relatable.

“Sometimes things he hands out will have mistakes in them,” Berger said. “He’ll stop in the middle of class and have to correct it.”

More than being an intellectual, Evans wants his students to know he’s not a sophisticated academic. He makes mistakes. He’s an average guy.

The encourager

Old English is important, according to Evans, because it not only provides a foundation for understanding the modern language, but also because of its themes.

“Medieval literature — ‘Beowulf,’ Chaucer, Sir Gawain, ‘Morte d’Arthur,’ medieval ballads — they all are talking about universal human experiences,” he said.

One of these universal experiences is sitting in a classroom.

In his classroom, Evans stands behind the podium in front. As he talks, there’s a shuffling of papers.

Some students take notes, some only appear to take notes; one knits and one plays “World of Warcraft” on his computer. Evans said his worst classes are when students don’t speak up. In this class, students are not talking as much as he would like.

“Feedback, feedback, feedback, feedback,” he says as he leans over the podium.

Evans does not want to force his students to talk; he gently prods.

“It’s all really on the student,” he said. “Maybe the professor is like an orchestra conductor — he’s in the front of the room, he’s conducting.”

But Evans is giving his own performance in a way to make his students feel more comfortable.

“I remember what it’s like to be in a classroom. I know how awkward and anxiety-producing it can be to ask or answer a question. I so don’t want students to be embarrassed,” Evans said. “There are people who are less socially accepted. What would you call them? They are awkward people and very often they are aware of their awkwardness. Those people I sympathize so much with. At my core, I’m a very shy person.”

Evans sees himself as an encourager of all students. In his class, he points out problems with students’ translations, but ends each one with “otherwise, good.”

In the classroom, Evans’ main goal is to break the barrier between the students and himself. His job is to pass his knowledge on to his students.

Jonathan Evans, an Old English professor, puts emphasis on feedback from his students. Photo by Rachel Bunn

“My job is to show you what you know. I’m not your adversary — I’m your cheerleader,” he said. “No matter what a student says, I try very carefully to not to respond ‘You’re wrong.’ You weren’t right, but that’s OK — at least you were in there trying.”

Evans is running late again. He stops in the middle of his point about the preterite tense. “Oh! And we’re over.”

Most of the class disperses quickly. Eight students linger. Evans stays to talk with them all. For Evans, it’s his job.