Findings

What He Does For Love

Students wander into Sturm 311 and look around the room for a seat. This classroom can accommodate 30 students, but it does not look like the room will be full. Dr. Frank Dance sits at the table in the front of the room. "You must be Dr. Austin," he states as I walk toward the front of the room. We shake hands.

Instead of the normal awkward silence of the first day of class, Dr. Dance is figuring out what face belongs to the names on his list. He asks what program each student is in, how far along they are, and the place of their birth. From the graduate students, he elicits their undergraduate university. No one is excluded. The conversation continues for 20 minutes until it is time for class to begin.

Looking quite natty in his suit and tie, a perpetual hint of a smile resides under his mustache. His professorial aura is completed by a pair of glasses. Conviviality notable from the first impression, he describes the course and his expectations. He shares some information about his educational background and his family. He invites the students to attend to their learning by completing their daily readings and coming to class with questions and opinions. He encourages scholarly dialog. Thus begins Digital Noesis for the Spring quarter 2003.

Background and Family

Francis Esburn Xavier Dance was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. His parents met during WWI. His mother was the highest ranking enlisted female in the Navy in 1917. She held the title of Chief Yeoman and met his father, a Navy surgeon, at a Naval hospital.

His parents ran a strict but involved household. He didn't own a bike until he could buy one for himself, yet he was allowed to go to Times Square on his own as a boy. They were very engaged in intellectual life, abstract topics, and current events. They lived very much in the present and were strong role models for Dance. From his mother, he learned strength and tolerance and from his father, kindness and flexibility. According to Dance, "they never did anything but help me" and he was close to them until they died.

Dance attended Brooklyn Preparatory High School, a private Jesuit institution. He was in the student drama group and did summer stock in Spring Lake, NJ. Aside from drama, he was not particularly interested in school until college. He began at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He found it to be a strange place as the church was segregated. His father promised him $100 for every A he earned. When he ended up with $800, he was quickly transferred to Fordham in New York City and the policy of paying for grades ceased. It was at Fordham where Dance first attended school with girls.

He received his B.S. from Fordham University in 1951. He was planning on being a priest, so he majored in Philosophy and English. He majored in speech as well because he loved performing. As a freshman, he had a beautiful speech teacher with long red hair. During a lecture on diaphragmatic breathing, she asked Dance to put his hand on her diaphragm. He thought, "this is a great major." He graduated and went on to seminary. His bishop wanted him to get a graduate degree with the goal of specializing in homiletics or the art of preaching and sacred rhetoric. He was sent to Northwestern and that was the undoing of his goal to become a priest. He earned his M.A. in 1953 and his Ph.D. in 1959, both from Northwestern University.

Dance is the John Evans Professor of Human Communication Studies at the University of Denver. He has served on DU's faculty since 1971. He was the University Lecturer in 1986 and the William T. Driscoll Master Teacher in 1985. He is a Fellow in the International Communication Association. He held the office of President of both his major professional associations, the International Communication Association in 1967 and the National Communication Association in 1982. He served as editor of both the Journal of Communication and of Communication Education. Prior to coming to DU, Dance taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Kansas. Dance has published over 60 refereed articles and 12 books.

When asked who the most significant person is for a new professor, Dance responded "the significant other." Dance is married to Dr. Carol Zak-Dance, Professor of Communication at the Women's College at the University of Denver and Coordinator of the Communication Center at the Women's College. Dance is very clearly crazy about his wife. "She is as good a teacher as there is." Dr. Zak-Dance is responsible for a shift in focus for Dance. He had been devoted to his career and a workaholic at the expense of his personal life. The arrival of Zak-Dance in his life changed his primary focus to home and family. For that, he seems quite grateful to her.

Describing her husband's strengths as an academic, she believes he possesses "a true interest in learning and the unknown." He was her professor at the University of Wisconsin and she recalls his other attributes. "I enjoyed his teaching style and his great sense of humor. He mentored me in terms of continuing my academic career." She admires Dance's ability to get his undergraduate students to participate during class.

Dance enjoys reading and cooking. He tells us about his success with a new recipe for crab cakes and how preparing two ducks was so demanding that he was not hungry by the time he finished them. He does not tackle baking. "I would have liked to be a housewife, except I don't like laundry."

"Family has always been the field study group for Frank - always the place where questions are generated and used as examples of practice." according to Zak-Dance. But family has a much greater importance to him. The couple has managed their professional lives to be available to their children. They have kept Dance in touch with another generation and helped him become adaptable and interested in the culture of his students.

Dance volunteers at Littleton High School every Tuesday morning in the post-graduate center. He is just completing 3 years of working with students who don't have a plan for life after high school. Next year will be his last year, as his youngest daughter will graduate from the IB program at LHS and go to college.

Passion for Discipline

Dance has long been a student of Walter J. Ong and one of the texts we read for Digital Noesis is Ong's Orality and Literacy. In an article penned by Dance called Remembering a Mentor: Walter J. Ong S.J. he states "Ong's writings induced in me a feeling of intellectual kinship." (1) Dance and Ong are both products of a Jesuit education, which incorporates "the commitment to the perfect use of spoken language". (9) This commitment likely sparked the lifelong interest in the spoken word for both Ong and Dance. Ong, a priest, has served as a model of living the Jesuit tradition of a disciplined studious life and an inspiration in his field of study.

Dance became a professor because he wanted the opportunity to study his subject over a long period of time. He has a background in theatre and performed as a children's magician to earn spending money during college. As his research progressed, his focus narrowed and his passion for his work increased. "Over time you learn more and more about what it is you want to know."

While a passion for his discipline is what propelled Dance into his profession, it is working with students that he currently enjoys most. "Look, the kind of thing that you and I do is, for us, fun. And the challenge is how to make it fun for others without making it look trivial."

Dance attributes his career success to his publishing, his service, and his work with students. "Students are usually very kind to me." Dance's teaching evaluations from Winter 2003 reflect how he is perceived by his students. He earns consistently high marks, most often perfect fives on questions about his expertise, level of preparedness, enthusiasm, availability, and teaching excellence. Each of the 11 respondents on the evaluations from his Effective Public & Professional Presence course took the time to write comments on the form. The following comments are representative of student sentiment:

"Extremely knowledgeable & helpful about the topics that we covered and I learned a great deal. "
"I really liked this course because Frank was so great and taught me so much about being a successful speaker."
"The instructor was more concerned about the class really getting the material rather than just going through the information and giving out grades. From this, I have really learned a great deal."
"Great course, improved my speaking skills 100%."
"This is my favorite class I've ever taken at DU. Prof. Dance made the class enjoyable and I benefited a great deal from it."
"Dance is a wonderful man & his love for HCOM is extraordinary & makes my love grow for it also."

In addition to Digital Noesis and Effective Public & Professional Presence, Dance teaches The Psychology of Spoken Language, Fundamentals of Human Communication Theory, and an Honors Course in Human Communication.

Another measure of student's admiration of Dance is demonstrated by the current and former doctoral students who are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to provide guest lectures in his Digital Noesis course. Part of Dance's gentle indoctrination into the intellectual domain of speech and language includes wonderful presentations by Dennis Gallagher, candidate for Denver City Auditor and doctoral student, Dr. Kathy Marold, Professor of Communication Information Systems at Metropolitan State College, and Dr. Karen Lollar, Professor of Communication at the University of Denver and Metropolitan State College. Each spoke of their dissertation research and the process they experienced. Their participation in the growth of Dance's current crop of students is a way for them to reciprocate. He currently advises 4 doctoral students.

Dance used to have a different viewpoint on higher education and rigor. He was at work all the time and had tough standards for his students. "I have changed in terms of my compulsion that at the end of a course the students know the body of knowledge in favor of students liking what they have learned and being interested in the subject and wanting to learn more."

Engaged Educator

It is Dance's custom to arrive 20 to 30 minutes early for class and visit with his students. He shares the titles of the latest novels he has read and asks about our reading preferences. He is interested in our weekend activities and opinions on current events. The war in Iraq and the appointment of DU President Holtzman were among the topics of Spring quarter, as well as who got out to see the Matrix Reloaded on the first weekend of its release. Dance certainly did.

Dance sports a jacket and tie every day of class except one snowy day when he wore a sweater. Occasionally, a cuff link can be seen glinting out of his sleeve. He has a "technology tie" with a power plug that winds its way down the fabric like a noodle. His dapper appearance is a treat at this University.

By the 5th class session, students arrive anticipating the pre-class repartee with Dance. He is always addressed as Dr. Dance or Sir, yet the discussion is light hearted and often includes jokes. Dance is a great story teller. We learn about the influence of his parents, his recipe for crab cakes, and his thoughts on death and dying during a discussion of his bicycle accident when he was hit by a car in 1998. Dance poses almost as many questions as he tells stories. He wants to know about the backgrounds, activities, and interests of his students. We can tell he cares about us and are eager to respond.

During the entire class experience with Dance, he is gently urging intellectual performance from his students and inviting us into the world of scholarship. Each Wednesday he shuffles through the papers we submit on Monday to point out achievements and opportunities for improvement. Each of the 9 students receives individual attention and occasionally a passage is read to the class from their weekly writing.

Innovator

Dance has always been one to acquire and adopt technology that would assist him in his work and play as soon as it becomes available. It is likely that he learned this leadership trend from his father, who was among the first to own a television. During his career as a consultant, his client list has included IBM and NASA. "The computer is the best toy we have ever had. Even when they don't behave, they are so much fun." His wife confirms his willingness to purchase the first pocket calculator or computer enhancement, read the entire manual, and figure out how it is connected to what he already does.

Dance remembers when Carol Taylor showed him Netscape for the first time. It took 2 and 1/2 hours to get the Vatican Art Museum site to load. He also remembers the challenge of getting the University secretaries weaned from their typewriters. He believes he has been fortunate to be an early adopter of computers and technology. He uses Blackboard extensively to post course documents and readings. His course is part of the Department of Communications Online Assessment project. Students load an example of work from the course onto a special section of their DU Portfolio for the assessment group to evaluate. He is among the first faculty to use online course evaluations at the end of this quarter. He often uses his computer during class to demonstrate the differences in oro-pharyngeal development between humans and other mammals, show relevant web sites, and give a virtual tour of the murals at the Williams Tower in the Ritchie Center.

Dance points out that "the rarest commodity today is attention." He describes the value of gaining the attention of students, customers, and colleagues. His habit of early adoption of change demonstrates his concern about gaining the attention of his learners. He encourages interactive participation in both his lectures and student presentations. He strives to keep us engaged with the content.

In the future, Dance would like to write a couple more books, get older with his wife, watch his children grow and succeed, cook, and volunteer. "There is no reason to retire if the students can hear me and they learn something."

Intellectual Guide

Dance's advice for the aspiring professor:

"Know more about your chosen subject than anybody else. Be able to answer questions and show a grasp of continuing research. Be facile on your tongue and willing to work hard. Publish at a research university in order to get promoted, do community service, and teach as best you can."

From A Chorus Line

What I Did For Love

Diana:
Kiss today goodbye,
The sweetness and the sorrow.
Wish me luck, the same to you,
But I can't regret
What I did for love, what I did for love.

Look, my eyes are dry.
The gift was ours to borrow.
It's as if we always knew,
And I won't forget what I did for love,
What I did for love.

Gone,
Love is never gone.
As we travel on,
Love's what we'll remember.

Kiss today goodbye,
And point me t'ward tomorrow.
We did what we had to do.
Won't forget, can't regret
What I did for love.

All:
What I did for love.

Diana:
What I did for…

All:
Love
Love is never gone.
As we travel on
Love's what we'll remember.

Kiss today good bye.

Diana
And point me t'ward tomorrow.

All:
Point me t'ward tomorrow.
We did what we had to do.
Won't forget, can't regret
What I did for love
What I did for love

Diana:
What I did for…

All:
Love.