University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

The Teaching of O.B. Hardison, Jr. is about a master teacher of English and his provocative writings on education. Because of committing ten years of my professional life to this project, I have been refreshed and rejuvenated as a teacher of thirty-eight years and have begun to make changes in my way of teaching.

My book documents how and why Hardison was a successful teacher and assembles the best of his writings on education which reveal the methods and theories that underpin his particular style of teaching. The book attempts to define the elusive, controversial topic of master teaching or great teaching by exploring the depth what one person did to excel as a teacher.

The profile of O.B. Hardison as a master teacher serves as an inspirational model for others to emulate, gauge themselves against, and use as a point of reference when attempting to establish their own identities in the liberal arts/humanities teaching continuum. By studying a master teacher's example, the most significant result may be that we will become more successful teachers.