Presbyterian College English professor reflects on the impact of a liberal arts education on both students and faculty
Presbyterian College English professor reflects on the impact of a liberal arts education on both students and faculty
Dr. Terry Barr credits his love of English to one of his high school teachers, who opened his eyes to the wonders of Shakespeare and journaling.
In Barr’s own words, the seeds were always there, but he didn’t consider English as a career until he began college, when he found himself continuously taking English courses despite being a political science major.
“I was taking a southern lit class, and one day I just kind of paused and thought, ‘this is what I should be majoring in, because this doesn’t feel like work,’” he said. “I thought about my professors and thought, ‘what a great job they have, maybe that’s what I should do.’”
Soon after his moment of realization, Barr officially changed his major to include English, and the rest is history.
Pursuing a Dream
Going into graduate school, Barr was already about 90% certain that he wanted to teach, but his experience as a teaching assistant during his master’s program solidified that decision.
“It was honestly kind of frightening to walk into my very first class, but it didn’t take long to get them engaged in either what we were reading, or I would bring in music as I’ve always done,” he said. “It got to be fun, and I felt pretty confident, so I went for my Ph.D. after that.”
After completing his doctorate, Barr found himself interviewing for a position at PC by pure chance. Having applied to around 100 positions, PC was one of the institutions that invited him for an interview.
“The job description suited everything I had been trained to do in grad school,” he said. “I interviewed at a regional conference in Atlanta, and they liked me enough to make me a finalist, and then they brought me to campus for an all-day interview.”
Barr was offered the position shortly after he interviewed, something he’s always considered himself lucky for, and he officially began teaching in the fall of 1987.
“Here I was, being offered a tenure-track job at a liberal arts college, which is what I wanted to do,” he said. “So when they offered me the job, I felt really fortunate to have that choice.”
In his nearly 40 years at the college, there have been many highlights for Barr, from spending three weeks in Oxford studying British film with students to the wide variety of courses he’s been fortunate enough to teach over the years.
“From Holocaust literature, to the rock and soul literature class, to several film courses, and creative writing, I don’t think I can think of anything else that I’d like to teach, so it’s probably good that I’m about to retire,” he joked.
I was taking a southern lit class, and one day I just kind of paused and thought, ‘this is what I should be majoring in, because this doesn’t feel like work.’ I thought about my professors and thought, ‘what a great job they have, maybe that’s what I should do.’”
Dr. Terry Barr, Professor of English
The End of an Era
As Barr wraps up his second-to-last year at the college, there are still new things on the horizon before he retires.
For the past year and a half, Barr and history professor Dr. Michael Nelson have been hard at work on their co-authored book on SEC football and religion, with the book set to come out sometime in the fall of next year.
“I’m really excited to share that book with everyone,” he said. “I’m thankful to PC for affording me the time to engage students with the crazy world of college football and religion.”
In his true fashion, Barr has several fascinating classes lined up for next spring, including a rock and soul literature class and one final creative writing course.
“I’m excited to teach creative writing one more time, and the rock and soul literature class, and to go out with good feelings about it all,” he said.
