For UC Santa Barbara Continuing Lecturer Gordon Abra, teaching isn’t purely about transmitting information to students. It's about helping students train their minds, like

athletes train to keep learning and eventually be better at what they do. “Imagine you’re a basketball player,” Abra said in a recent interview. “You wouldn’t quit the sport just because you lost a game. You’ve got some work to do.”

Abra teaches in UCSB’s Communication Department with specializations in sociology and criminology. He blends metaphors, mindset, and strategy into his teaching in a way that students describe as captivating. Joshua Martinez, a fourth-year Communication major, has taken three of Abra’s courses, because he says they shift his mindset. “He would challenge your perspective and if you think you know it all, there is always more to learn.”

Abra says his goal is not to teach students what to think but rather how to think.

Before landing at UCSB, Abra’s academic journey took unexpected, yet rewarding twists. He began as an undergraduate physics major at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. But after realizing it wasn’t quite the right fit, he left, only to later return with a new interest in sociology. Fascinated by criminology and sociology, he continued his graduate studies at the University of Arizona, by then home to one of the top criminologists in the world: Travis Hirschi. Abra began his teaching career at Long Beach State University in 2001, then followed his spouse’s career to the University of Oklahoma, teaching criminology, law and society, and introduction to sociology. In 2014, his spouse was recruited to UCSB, which hired him as a lecturer. He received a University Senate Distinguished Teaching Award in 2022.

                       Abra’s University Senate Distinguished Teaching Award

At the heart of Abra’s philosophy is the use of metaphors and analogies. He believes that the “light bulb moment” often comes not from dense definitions, readings or data but from comparisons that make complex ideas feel real.

“When someone says, ‘think about it like this…’ that’s when I finally get it,” he said, describing on his own experience as a learner. Whether he’s comparing the higher education system to a winery or a student to an athlete, his philosophy of teaching converts academic content into something students can see, feel, apply, and reflect upon.

Students in Abra’s classes quickly learn that memorizing isn’t enough, and more importantly, it isn’t effective. “He doesn’t give you the answers—he challenges you to find them,” says fourth-year Communication and senior honors student, Shay Hawkes. Hawkes and others say Abra challenges students to question their assumptions, think from a different perspective, and embrace even challenging topics — making the classroom feel more like a training ground rather than a lecture hall.

“Gordon’s lectures often feel like performances,” added Hawkes.

She recounted when Abra asked his communication science students to take out a sheet of paper and answer a series of questions, ones that, in theory, any high school student should be able to answer. “As we went through them, it became clear that most of us couldn’t answer more than half correctly.” With the highest score in the class reaching only 9/20, Hawkes admits she felt deflated. 

“My ego definitely took a hit, but it made me reflect on how little I had actually retained from my high school education,” she recalls. The activity hit the nail on the head—highlighting for her how engaging and eye-opening communication science can be.

For his part, Abra says that captivating students and inspiring them to acquire more knowledge and insight is why he does what he does. “As a result of you taking my classes, if you think about things differently—that is my goal,” he said.

For him, the first step in getting students interested in subjects that might initially seem dry—like communication science or policing—is to show them how engaging and even fun those topics can be. For example, on the first day of a policing class last fall, Abra drew a large circle filled with dots on the chalkboard and asked, “What is this?” Students hesitated, offering guesses like “society,” “a cookie,” or “outer space.” But the answer was simpler: just a circle with dots on a chalkboard behind a wall. The exercise illustrated how we often overlook the obvious—just as we do with everyday events like crime happening around us. “If I walked into class wearing a tutu, that would grab your attention, and you'd tell everyone your professor wore a tutu.” His message: we notice the unusual but often ignore what happens right in front of us.

Secondly, Abra says it is essential to “get students thinking about improvement.” He returned to his student-athlete metaphor and said that athletes are “never done learning,” so they “should never be done training.” He says the current education system has, unfortunately, trained students to believe learning has an endpoint. “I got an A, then I’m done. I passed the class, then I’m done. I graduated, then I’m finished,” Abra said of the typical student attitude.

    Gordon Abra in his office, next to a cherished nutcracker that he received as a gift from an appreciative student

But for this educator, learning isn’t a destination—it’s ongoing training. By challenging students to think differently, embrace complexity, and find excitement in the process, he seeks to turn the classroom into a space of discovery. Like athletes, his students leave not just informed—but sharper, stronger, and ready for the next challenge. “I think of myself as a coach, and that means that part of my job is motivational,” Abra said.

Nestor Manzanares is a Communication major at UC Santa Barbara, minoring in Spanish and pursuing the Professional Writing Minor with a focus in Journalism. He is an actor, a storyteller dedicated to amplifying the voices of those who are often unheard.