The foundational element of the educational enterprise is the basic relationship of two human beings working collaboratively to accomplish something together that neither could accomplish alone. Faculty want to teach and students want to learn within thriving academic communities where such relationships are encouraged. This work focuses on returning foundational human relationships to the forefront of our work as educators. My premise is that the strategies enacted by the ancient Hebrew prophets give us a profound model for engaging in positive, community-creating relationships.

The ancient Hebrew prophets were models of community-building and social change. After an explication of the biblical, prophetic model, I examine three historical figures who enact prophetic rhetorical strategies: Maria W. Stewart in the era of abolition and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Myles Horton in the era of Civil Rights. From each of these personalities and eras, I present evidence that prophetic rhetorical strategies can inspire dramatic social change.

I assert that such strategies are already at work in some educational initiatives outside the confines of the traditional classroom. In the final chapter, I conclude that the collaborative, humanly interdependent work that occurs in the University of Oklahoma Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives, is fostering the foundational relationships I lament we have lost. I conclude by offering several prophetic rhetorical strategies that can be enacted inside and outside the classroom to return our academic work to the foundational human relationships on which it is based.