How do you answer "Oh, you're a professor? What do you teach?"

I usually get assigned to teach ____________ (e.g. introductory biology classes), but actually, most of my work at the university involves research in the area of ____________.

You say, "I'm a professor of Computer Science," or "I'm an Economics professor," or "I'm an English Professor," and see where the conversation goes.

I understand that you desire to clue the person in to the fact that you do many things other than teach, but in a social setting, it's inappropriate.

Over cocktails, you won't be able to change the perception of your conversational partner without seeming pretentious or boorish or boring. Just let it go and ask the person in return, "What do you do?"

Of course, you can say, "I teach Economics, with a focus on X, Y, and Z," (your research interests) and see if that arouses their interest and leads to a more in-depth conversation. If not, wander over to the bar and refill your glass.

If the setting is purely social and not professional, people want to socialize and be entertained. So, you go, "Yup, I teach a couple of software engineering courses, but do you wanna know the best part of being a professor?"

There you go. You can now reverse the public perception of all you do is teach (which seems to be your primary issue in your original post), and at the same time you can talk about what you really do, all the while being polite, fun and social, generally being someone people want to talk to over a glass of wine.

What do you think?