Dr. Simon Tarr: New Dean of Honors College

As a professor of media arts, a trained filmmaker and a student of life, Dr. Simon Tarr is excited to begin enhancing the Undergraduate Honors experience for Regent University students. With a background in film and storytelling, his primary pursuit as Dean of Regent’s Honors College is to help students recognize their story and calling. He believes, “We are all trying to tell our own stories.” 

Tarr holds a Ph.D. in Information Science, a M.F.A. in Film Production and a B.A. in Film and Video. He taught at Ithaca College, Penn State and the University of South Carolina, where he received his Ph.D. With these experiences behind him, Tarr is excited to enter this next chapter of his life. He believes an Honors College is just as complicated as a film; both have many moving parts, are working towards a goal higher than themselves and have the potential to make a great, lasting impact.

How does he plan to contribute to the already rich curriculum of the Honors College? To Tarr, “The sky’s the limit.” He plans to begin by listening to current professors and students in order to find an effective starting place. His ultimate goal is for the Honors College to be a program that both greatly benefits the educational pursuits of its participants and glorifies God. He also desires the program to have both a classical and modern influence “so that it is both a rigorous, robust, classical liberal arts experience… and also infused with technology and new media relevance to take what’s already so great and amplify it.”

As a believer who came to Christ later in his life and did not experience the privilege of going to a Christian school, he has a great appreciation for Christian education and a deeper knowledge of what he is called to do as part of the Kingdom. He has found that in life, we strive to infuse the most important things, like education, with the most important thing, knowing Christ. When considering this concept, he references 1 Tim. 4, which encourages believers to “set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity… Practice these things, immerse yourself in them.” The question of how to lead may be partially answered in this passage, that although the world may not take you seriously in your youth, by being an example in how you live, love, and devote yourself to Christ, you become a Christian leader. 

On this same note, he referenced Regent’s motto, Christian Leadership to Change the World and its universal message: whatever your major, passion or calling, you can change the world. He is very excited to teach with this motto in mind, openly educating students with a godly curriculum that points to Christ’s influence in all aspects of life. 

Tarr shared that he can’t wait to meet all of you and looks forward to hearing your stories and sharing some of his own.

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Katelyn Condrey

Katelyn Condrey is a department head for The Daily Runner.