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A student falling asleep during a lecture is the plight of many professors. Some don't address it; some call them out; others go as far as abruptly asking the snoozing student a question about the topic being taught. College professor Matthew Pittman at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, had an even better idea, one that seems to show his age. Instead of simply calling out the name of his slumbering students or asking them a question to resume the lesson, he decided to belt out emo and pop-punk lyrics to wake them up.
In a video shared by Pittman himself, the professor can be seen startling three of his students with his musicality. The first, sitting in the front row, causes the teacher to belt out “Fall for You” by Secondhand Serenade, with Pittman pushing his grown-out hair to his face to evoke an emo hairstyle. In another clip, a student is woken up by Pittman singing Green Day's “Basket Case,” who cheekily chooses the lyrics “Do you have the time to listen to me whine / About nothing and everything all at once?”
Most dramatically, Pittman wakes up a student by bringing out a megaphone to sing Blink-182's “I Miss You.” The other students, rather than being puzzled, seem to love the bit, with one even saying, “That was cute.” When praised online about how seamlessly he’s able to return to the topic, he admitted that he does lose his train of thought sometimes.
Pittman, an assistant professor of advertising and public relations, is described as “an expert in social media strategies, green advertising, and sustainability campaigns.” If there's any indication, his clever ideas have not only caught the eyes (and ears) of students at the UTK Social Media Class, but also all of social media, especially those who grew up listening to emo music and love seeing it introduced to new people.
“He's not just a professor… he's an EDUCATOR,” says one TikTok commenter. Another viewer adds, “One may wear a suit, but the elder emo heart never dies.”
This is Matthew Pittman, a college professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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He has gained attention online for his unconventional methods of incorporating music into his lectures.
@kkenziegreene Replying to @Stacy my #professor clearly loves to give extra credit #collegelife #college #collegeinfo #utk #tennessee #collegeprofessor #howtocollege #collegestudent ♬ original sound – KENZIE GREENE
He's recently gone viral for waking up sleeping students by belting out emo songs.
@matthewcpittman #emomusic is good for #wakingup #tired #collegestudents #collegeclass #sleepingstudent #collegestudent #emomusicchallenge #greenday #blink182 #secondhandserenade #fallforyou #basketcase #90smusic ♬ original sound – Professor Pittman
But that's not the only way he uses music in his lecture halls. He's given students the option of walking out to 90s hip hop…
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…and he's also made them choose between performing a 15-second dance or handing in a 15,000-word paper.
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Matthew Pittman: Instagram | TikTok
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