Associate Professor; Division Chair of English/World Languages

Associate Profesor, Division Chair, Tara Hart

Office: DH - 239
Phone: 410-772-4566
email: thart@howardcc.edu

Dr. Hart has been a full-time faculty member at Howard Community College since 1997 and chair of the division of English/World Languages since 2001. At Howard Community College, she teaches composition and literature and is involved in a variety of campus initiatives, including the HCC Book Connection Project, the StepUP program, and the First-Year Experience Advisory Board, as well as on teams devoted to developmental education, information literacy, the honors program, and enrollment management. As chair, she strives to be a transformational and servant leader to a dynamic and innovative division of twenty-five full-time faculty and over 100 adjunct faculty and staff. She was recently recognized as an International Exemplary Leader by the Chair Academy for Organizational Leaders.

In 2004, Dr. Hart facilitated a formal partnership between the college and the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). HoCoPoLitSo, whose mission is to enlarge the audience for the appreciation of contemporary literature and brings nationally and internationally renowned poets and writers to our community, is now in residence at the college. She is also on the Friends of the Howard County Library Board as a representative of HCC and HoCoPoLitSo and is a member of the Statewide Standards for College Writing alignment group.

As a scholar, her Master’s level work was in drama, particularly the plays of Sam Shepard and Samuel Beckett, while her doctoral dissertation focused on the ways early 20th-century American women writers used the concept of landscape in their literature. Current research interests are focused on theories of academic leadership and the teaching of poetry.

Dr. Hart loves teaching and working with innovative teachers. She believes that learning is what we are, what we do, what we yearn for, in every area of our lives – that we go toward and learn about what is important to us, what we love, and what helps illuminate our lives. She believes that good teachers help students to develop essential critical thinking skills and to develop trust in their own intellectual abilities – awakening or fostering a love of learning that is already present in us all.

Courses Taught:

• ENGL 121
• ENGL 106
• ENGL 203
• THET 190

Education and Certifications:

• Ph.D - University of Maryland, College Park
• M.A. - University of Maryland, College Park
• B.A. - Bucknell University

Awards:

• International Exemplary Leader Award, The Chair Academy: Training for Organizational Leaders, 2006.
• Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2002, 2005.
• Outstanding English/World Languages Division Faculty Member, Howard Community College, 2000-2001.
• Carl Bode Prize for Best Graduate Dissertation in American Literature, University of Maryland, 1996.
• First Prize for Oral Presentation to an Interdisciplinary Audience, University of Maryland, 1995.
• Outstanding Teacher on Campus.  University of Maryland Center for Teaching Excellence, 1993.

Presentations and Publications

• "Mixing Our Metaphors: Disc Jockey Teaching in the Wired Writing Classroom," TYCA Conference, October 12-14, Pittsburgh, PA, 2000.
• "The Wild, Wired West: Douglas Coupland's Microserfing Safari,” Western Literature Association, Sacramento, Calif. October 1999.
• “Outcomes Assessment for Composition & Literature,” Cabrillo College, CA, July 1999.
• “Still Points: Mary Austin’s Compositions and Explanations,” published in Exploring Lost Borders: Critical Essays on Mary Austin, University of Nevada Press, 1999. Eds. Melody Graulich and Betsy Klimasmith.
• “Serving Suspended Sentences: Austin and Stein’s Literature of Place,” Twentieth-Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, Kentucky.  February 1995.