A typical workday for a university professor might include addressing 400 first-year students in a huge lecture auditorium, and—in the same day—coaching a single, nervous, and uncertain doctoral student who is struggling to complete her dissertation. (Don’t even ask about the research, writing, and committee meetings.) As this professor, you might cope by figuring out lessons and sessions on the fly, or you might dig into memories of what you learned from your own teachers.

Over the years, university students have shown that they need to learn and communicate in a variety of ways, and with a range of new technology. Professors must adapt to this environment and continue to mentor well-prepared, analytical students by being inspired and inspiring teachers. In these essays, the contributors trace the many ways that professors have achieved excellence.

New university professors will find guidance and insight in these essays, which also contain reflections by university students. What skills and knowledge did they learn? How did their values and beliefs transform? At the end of their degree, were they same people that they were upon university entrance?

George Melnyk is an associate professor of Canadian studies and film studies in the Faculty of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary. He is a cultural historian who specializes in Canadian cinema. Among his film publications are One Hundred Years of Canadian Cinema (2004) and Great Canadian Film Directors (2007). Most recently he has published The Young, the Restless, and the Dead: Interviews with Canadian Filmmakers (2008) in the Film and Media Studies series at WLU Press.

George Melnyk's profile page

Christine Mason Sutherland is Professor Emeritus in the University of Calgary’s Department of Communication and Culture. Specializing in rhetoric, both theoretical and practical, she pursued research in the history of rhetoric.

Christine Mason Sutherland's profile page