| FACULTY
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Ted T. Allen
Professor Director, Pre-Medical Program Education B.A., Murray State College M.S., University of Wisconsin Ph.D. in Biology, University of Florida Areas of Expertise Ornithology, Anatomy and Embryology |
 Dr. Ted T.
Allen
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| Bio
and Research My origins are in Tennessee farmland, where I learned to appreciate nature by living close to the land. This affinity for the natural environment was reinforced and diversified by a move to south Florida, where I enjoyed and learned from exposure to the Everglades, the Florida Keys, and the ocean. These experiences propelled me toward a more formal study of biology, but always with the point of view of a naturalist. I have been fortunate enough to experience a variety of places and habitats: college in Kentucky, grad school in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Florida, two years in Germany in the U.S. Army, wildlife surveys in Arizona mountains and deserts, trips to California, Alaska, the British Isles, the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon basin, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and most recently - Dominica in the West Indies. All of these places allowed me to be a naturalist learning in the field, , and they added greatly to the breadth of my background and to the depth of appreciation of the natural world - and subsequently to my attitude toward teaching. I currently teach courses in Human Anatomy, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, Comparative Vertebrate Embryology, and Ornithology. My attitude toward teaching and my approach to it are strongly influenced by my desire to have the student see and understand the relevance of the material and the concepts. This may come in understanding one's own body and its biological life, and it may include preparation for a career in nursing, medicine, or some medically related field. The relationship to everyday life can be strengthened by using news items about illnesses and accidents - or athletics injuries. Ornithology allows me to incorporate a wide variety of interdisciplinary topics into the course. These include art (some of my own), music, literature, geography, ecology, navigation, behavior, and use of birds as indicators of what is happening in our environment. I often use videotapes (some of my own), magazine articles and photographs as unique subject material - to illustrate a special point or to transport the class for a brief visit to another continent. I use some talent in art to illustrate my lectures and labs. This class allows me to get students into the field on a frequent basis, and the JU campus is a marvelous place to see a variety of birds. I try to help the student see birds in their environmental context, and my travels have given me a global dimension that I try to share. My enthusiastic interest in birds, along with the beauty and visible wildlife of the campus, are reflected back to me in the form of various expressions of excitement from the students. When I arrived at Jacksonville University (for a year), I quickly came to appreciate the opportunity for close communication between teacher and student, as contrasted with the limited opportunities I had seen at larger schools. And I still strongly think that this closeness can impart special things to students, in terms of memorable experiences, feelings, and personal insights that can be very influential and important to the future of a young person. Knowing this, a teacher feels more fulfilled, and I'm still here. |
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| Teaching
BLY211 Human Anatomy BLY305 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy BLY306 Comparative Vertebrate Embryology BLY406 Advanced Ornithology |
Contact Information Office: Reid 211 Phone: (904) 256-7320 Email: tallen@ju.edu |
