Sean Cobb may be one of the newer professors at Gustavus, but his presence on campus has definitely been noticed. If you are looking for him outside of his office hours, good luck because Cobb could be in the classroom, tutoring in the Diversity Center, judging the Drag Show, in Faculty Senate, organizing Faculty Shop Talk, advising the English Honor Society, coaching soccer or whatever else he can get his hands on. Cobb embodies the liberal arts education, putting energy into as many activities as possible.

Cobb is a professor of English with a focus on film at Gustavus. “Sean is engaging every single day,” Sophomore English Major Ian Ingersoll said. “He’s very funny, but at the same time very informational.”

Cobb brings a lot to the English department, as he teaches a variety of courses including a First Term Seminar on Visual Culture, American Literature, Film as Art, Film Theory and a variety of special topics courses. Cobb’s hope is create and expand the film courses at Gustavus and eventually create a film minor. “We are an increasingly visual culture,” Cobb said. “An important part of the liberal arts education is to be able to understand the world around us, and I think it’s important to have a visual literacy to be a successful reader and interpreter of the world.”

“I think film really opens up the English major in a different way [than just literature],” Senior English Major Bern Egger said. “It’s really good to have a different aesthetic in the English department.”

Yet, Cobb’s film courses reach many students outside of the English department. Film as Art is a course that surveys major films through history. “It’s not a required English course, so students from all different majors who are interested in film [enroll in the course],” Cobb said.

Cobb often shows films that aren’t commonly viewed, like silent, black and white and foreign films. Yet he also analyzes films that are parts of pop culture like The Exorcist and 2001: A Space Odyssey. “I think it’s important to see and re-see films for the first time,” Cobb said. “I always tell students that I want to ruin films for them because I want to them to pay attention to mis-en-scène, and panning or whatever, and it’s fun to connect films to cultural and historical stuff.”

It is a combination of interesting material, humor and sweating habits that make Cobb’s lectures so popular. “No lecture is ever dry, mostly because he sweats a lot, but also because he is so entertaining,” Ingersoll said.

“I don’t mind [Minnesota’s] cold weather- I sweat less,” Cobb, a native of Arizona said.

To say that Cobb is enthusiastic about the Gustavus community is an understatement. His involvement on and off campus is a testament to his devotion, and it’s obvious that he talks with anyone that he comes across. “[Cobb] knows no strangers,” Egger said. “He is really conversational.”

“When I [taught] at University of Arizona, I wouldn’t even know professors who were in the same building as me, and here I know professors from all different departments. I am in a film club with [a bunch of science professors],” Cobb said.

Cobb says that he loves the students at Gustavus, as well. “I really like the students at Gustavus. I knew right away that I wanted a job here,” Cobb said. “I think it’s a combination of highly motivated and intelligent students. When I was here for a campus visit I had this really short little break, and I went to bathroom. I was checking my tie at the mirror and all of a sudden this girl came in, and I asked her ‘Am I in the women’s bathroom?’ and she said, ‘I think so,’ not at all definitively either way and I thought, ‘wow the students here are really nice students.’”

And the students at Gustavus are obvious fans of Cobb. “Everyone I have talked to who has ever been in one of his classes always say they he was their favorite professor of the semester,” Ingersoll said.

“He is very involved, and he knows what’s going on without being too sanctimonious,” Egger said.

Cobb has been at Gustavus for three years, and the impact he has made on campus is clear.

“Sean Cobb the perfect combination of hip and intelligent,” Ingersoll said.“He has the unique gift of making every ounce of material graspable, entertaining and enjoyable. He is truly a one-of-a-kind as a professor.”

Photos by Clark Kampfe.