It's an unusual sight of a modern classroom -- the dean of the largest college at a university leading a discussion among more than 300 students. But it takes place twice a week at Wichita State.

"I hope that when you're 70 years old, a bunch of 20-year-olds want to listen to what you have to say, because I find that incredibly humbling and incredibly exciting," said Ronald Matson, dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

At 9:32 a.m. sharp – he always gives students an extra two minutes to get situated in their seats – Matson begins instructing his Men and Masculinities class. Those 300 students fall silent and their attention turns to the front of the room for 75 minutes.

It’s a dynamic that former Graduate Teaching Assistant Jennifer Bowers explained as “amazing.”

“How he breaks down the walls in a classroom is just fascinating,” Bowers said. “And he keeps their attention … He has a presence in there. It never feels like that big of a class. The things he has to say, you never get bored listening.”

Perhaps that’s because Matson wrote the book – literally and figuratively – on men’s studies at WSU. The Men and Masculinities course presents the sociological perspectives on contemporary masculinities on topics ranging from masculine socialization to the role of gender in work, relationships, media and family. Matson edited the text book used in the class.

Matson began teaching the course 35 years ago. He said the course owes its existence to women’s studies movement.

“We’ve been so informed by all the women’s studies scholars along the way that it’s enabled me to be able to talk about men and gender in a much more informed way,” Matson said.

In his time at Wichita State, Matson estimated that he’s seen about 30,000 to 35,000 students enrolled in his classes. Despite the large class, Matson’s philosophy toward teaching is that it’s “personal business.” Respect, he said, is fundamental to his classroom setting.

“I want my students to feel as though I’m talking to them personally,” he said. “I want it to be one-on-one conversation despite there being 300 people in the room. I hope students realize that I respect them – who they are, what they believe in.”

But as the dean of the very college that offers the class, Matson’s role is considered extraordinary by his peers and colleagues.

“It isn’t a rarity for deans to teach, but Dr. Matson does teach a rather large class, … which has over 200 students,” Professor of Psychology Rhonda Lewis said. “The students love that class. He is a master teacher. I never want my SPTE’s (Student Perception of Teaching Effectiveness) scores to be compared to him because he is so good.”

With the help of his GTAs and the support of the sociology department, Matson is able to continue teaching one course a semester (the fall course is Introduction to Sociology).

Courses come and go on a college campus, but Men and Masculinities has stuck around.

Although gender studies has seen many changes in the past three decades since Matson started instructing the course, he says it still has important lessons for his students.

“When students take this class, they see its relevance in their workplace, in their relationships, in their families, in religion,” he said. “Gender is ubiquitous. It’s universal. It’s everywhere.”

And the students respond. At the end of the semester, Bowers graded students’ papers, reflecting on the course and what they learned. The common theme, she said, is happiness.

“So many people were struggling, and hearing someone tell them it’s not a degree, it’s not in your job, it’s in you,” Bowers said. “You’re not going to find happiness out there in the world; it’s in you. You have to be happy.”

The classroom is a creative space, and Matson says he feeds off the interaction just as much as the students do.

“I want to be in the here and now,” he said. “When I walk in that classroom, anything else that’s going on in my life is left behind, and anything else I’m thinking about for tomorrow is of little concern.”