Above is the logo of a prominent academic unit of the flagship university and land grant institution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I consider it both a privilege and an opportunity to be teaching in this unit at this moment in time (at the dawn of a new millennium and the age of unlimited bandwidth!). I was an undergraduate in the former Department of Telecommunications and a graduate student in the former College of Communications. Having never gone away since I arrived as a student, and through a somewhat unusual set of circumstances, I now find that I have the opportunity to give back to the University, through service to its students, some of the many benefits of the education and experience I gained while a student and professional employee of the University.

On one hand, I am amazed and gratified that it worked out that way. On the other hand, if I had been wiser when I was younger, I might have realized the inevitability of something like this occurring. I was an absolutely indefatigable reader when I was a child (thanks, Mom and Dad) and remain so to this day. I think part of my compulsion to read arises from an over-stimulated curiosity bone. However, part of it also arises from a similar compulsion to explain things to people and a parallel desire to never be at a loss for words. To be sure, I realize that there is much more to teaching than simply explaining and describing, but I do believe that is where we start. The art is to do it in such a way that it captures the attention of the student and leads him or her to the questions, the involvement, and the search for understanding that is necessary to further the educational experience. One advantage that I have in this endeavor is the fact that, unlike most professors at UK, I am from Kentucky, and my small-town experience and my own academic career at UK give me a firm basis for relating to my students. We have much in common, and the students understand that. I hope that I'm a good teacher -- I certainly devote a lot of time to it, and to interacting with my students outside the classroom. There is evidence that I am at least semi-successful. I'm certainly not lenient in grading -- as a matter of fact, I'm known for the opposite. Yet my teaching and course evaluations are generally very good. Based on student comments, with rare exception, my students find me knowledgeable, pleasant, and engaging, yet demanding and insistent on high standards.

Please pardon a personal digression for a moment and allow me tell you how I became interested in teaching. When I was a child, I routinely satisfied my itch to explain by imagining that I had someone with me to whom I could explain everything. It wasn't just anybody, though -- it was Benjamin Franklin. I had a high opinion of Ben (and still do) as a writer, publisher, scientist, inventor, politician, and statesman. To me, he seemed to be interested in everything, and he excelled in many things. I wanted to be like that. So the scenario went like this: Ben, avid curiosity about all things intact, would be transported to my historical time, and would quite naturally be wildly curious about all the artifacts of the 20th century he encountered. It would be up to me to explain it all -- everything from planes, trains, and automobiles to sewage treatment plants to rock and roll. As a matter of fact, I continued this mental indulgence well into my early 20s, when I was playing music and traveling quite a bit. It's a great way to pass the time on the road. Nowadays, I do not have to imagine explaining anything to anyone -- I actually do it all the time.