The director of OU’s Center of Middle East Studies stands at the threshold of his home in Walker Tower with an amiable smile and palpable enthusiasm.
“Come in, please!” he says.
Joshua Landis’ home seems like any other. It’s warm and spacious. There are books, tables, a piano and a myriad of memories in the form of trinkets and photos.
However, when Landis and his family of four go to sleep, 1,300 people sleep in the 11 floors above them.
Landis is a member of the Faculty-in-Residence program. Started by OU President David Boren in 1996 and loosely modeled after Yale’s program, faculty members apply every year to live on campus for up to three years, Landis said.
His home is located on the first floor of the Walker Center, but other participants are scattered across campus. Faculty who enter into the program don’t have to pay for the apartment and are provided a meal plan, Landis said.
Diane Brittingham, Residence Life director, said a decent number of faculty apply and recipients are hand-picked by Boren. Members are provided $5,000 from Housing and Food Services’ budget, and their job is to bridge the gap between resident students and faculty through events and close proximity.
Brittingham said the academic variety available from the program and the presence of a family with children or pets has a positive impact on students.
“I think it’s more about giving a sense of family or home for students,” she said. “But, we get to throw in that academic side without [students] realizing it.”
As he opened two windows with wide views of Walker-Adams Mall, Landis joked it was like being on display.
“It’s kind of like a fish bowl. We are here to remind students what a model family looks like,” he said, laughing. “We keep the fighting away from the windows.”
This is Landis’ third year as a Faculty-in-Residence. He reflects fondly on his experience, but admits the idea to apply wasn’t his own. His wife wanted to apply, and he agreed after seeing the apartment.
“You get to change your life, and you do something new,” he said. “And then you work hard for it.”
This hard work comes in the form of managing work as a faculty member for OU and coordinating with resident advisers to organize events, such as dinners with special guests or falafel night. Not every student gets involved, but some of them take advantage of these events, Landis said.
“It’s just a way to stop off and feel like you are a part of the community,” he said. “That you aren’t just living here as sardines, and then you go to your classes.”
Landis has been teaching at OU for 10 years. He lives with his wife, Manar Landis, and his two sons Kendall and Jonah Landis.
He will move on after his family’s contract expires at the end of this year, and the next faculty member will get an opportunity to move in. Although his son Kendall is only 6, he already has plans to make Faculty-in-Residence a family legacy.
“When my son grows up, he wants to be a Faculty-in-Residence,” Landis said.
