Robert Darden Selected as Outstanding Teaching Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences for 2016

April 26, 2017
Robert Darden

Robert Darden, courtesy photo

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WACO, Texas (April 26, 2017) – Robert Darden, professor in the department of journalism, public relations and new media, was named the Outstanding Teaching Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences for 2016.
“When the President’s Office called with the news, I was genuinely delighted,” said Darden. “I was thrilled that a teacher in the social sciences was recognized – I know there are some extraordinary teachers in these fields because I’ve heard them. I was grateful to colleagues in the department of journalism, public relations and new media who thought enough of what I do in the classroom to nominate me.”
Darden has also been named: Outstanding Professor, Research in the College of Arts and Sciences (2008), Centennial Professor (2008), Cornelia Marschall Smith Outstanding Professor at Baylor University (2011) and received the University Diversity Award (2008 and 2016).
“I think the fact that I had wonderful classroom teachers, especially at Baylor when I was an undergraduate, contributed mightily to this award,” he said. “I know I stand on the shoulders of giants. Baylor, in the mid-‘70s when I was a student, was known for the caliber of classroom teachers, professors who spoke without notes or PowerPoints and yet were mesmerizing. I never really thought about being a college professor, but I wanted to be like them.”
Darden started as an adjunct professor in several departments from 1988-1999 when he moved to tenure track and began teaching full-time.
Darden also is the founder and director of Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project (BGMRP), which identifies, acquires, preserves, digitizes and catalogs recordings from the black gospel music tradition. One of its key recordings, “The Old Ship of Zion,” is among the highlights of the permanent Musical Crossroads exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C.
Darden is the author of “Nothing But Love in God's Water, Volume II: Black Sacred Music from Sit-Ins to Resurrection City,” “Nothing But Love in God's Water: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement, Volume I” and “People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music.” He also hosts a weekly radio program on KWBU-FM called “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments,” which features the sounds and stories of the recordings in the BGMRP.
To learn more about Robert Darden and the courses he teaches, visit his page.
by Kelsey Dehnel, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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