A sociology professor at Iowa State has tried to capture the curiosity of his students by going beyond the ordinary textbook.

Joseph Hraba, who has been teaching at ISU since 1970, uses his own experiences to personify the subject matter and increase students’ awareness in his Sociology 305 (Social Psychology: A Sociological Perspective) and 330 (Sociology and Race Relations) courses.

“In my 330 class, we have sections about ethnic relations in different parts of the world,” he said. “[Students enjoy when I] bring in my own experiences.

“I put into context why people go to war — current issues as well as historical [aspects],” he said.

Hraba has visited numerous countries, including China, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Holland to teach short sociology courses and to do research.

Hraba, who is currently on a faculty improvement leave and just returned from Prague Sept. 1, has visited the Czech Republic many times since 1991 to do research on how the people’s lives and family structures have changed since the reform in 1989.

“We followed over 700 [Czechoslovakian] families to look at how the reform had affected their physical and mental health, as well as their family relations,” he said.

Hraba used his research on Czechoslovakian families as the foundation for his manuscript, which is titled, “10 Czech Families 10 Years after the Velvet Revolution.”

“I wrote the book while I was in Prague,” he said. “It deals with their lives and feelings since the start of the reform.”

Although the book is finished, Hraba is still looking for a publisher.

“I have had some presses interested [in the book], but I haven’t signed a contract yet,” he said.

Negotiations about having the manuscript translated into Czechoslovakian will be made after an English publisher is selected.

Hraba also has done research work in Russia and Poland. He collected research in Poland following the martial law in November and December 1982.

“They had consumer shortages in Poland, so we did studies on how the Poles shopped,” he said. “The women would shop for the household 36 hours a week by standing in lines called queues.”

While standing in line, the people do not interact in any type of secondary activity, Hraba said. They listen in hopes of picking up information on a supply that is vital to their well-being, he said.

“This is a world that America will never see,” he said. “If we have money, we can get what we want, but in Poland money was meaningless because there wasn’t anything to buy.”

Although he has had the opportunity to travel to many countries, Hraba still hopes one day to visit parts of South America, the South Pacific and south of Mexico City into the New World.

“It’s a shame that I haven’t traveled [to these places] yet,” he said. “I haven’t had any business to take me there.”

Hraba will remain on leave until spring semester, when he will return to teaching his sociology courses.