Teaching Professor Emeritus
314-516-5541
rota@umsl.edu
PhD, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
MA, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
MA, University of Illinois
BA, Elmhurst College
David Rota teaches Business Writing and many other writing and literature courses, including American Literature to 1865, American Literature from 1865 to Present, Literature of the Old Testament, and Literature of the New Testament. He has also taught in the Pierre Laclede Honors College and has served as our English Advanced Placement advisor for many years. Professor Rota brings a background in library science, theology, and philosophy to his teaching. He says, "Horace said that the purpose of literature is to delight and teach. I try to instill this simple idea every day that I am in the classroom. In a somewhat different vein, Aristotle claimed that rhetoric is 'the art of discovering in a given situation the available means of persuasion.' If every teaching day I convince students that literature can both delight and teach us, and that learning persuasive techniques can help us better the world and ourselves, my mission is accomplished."
