OXFORD — Sporting a pair of black-rimmed glasses and dulcet tones with a vocabulary to match, Dr. Jim Tobin quietly commands the attention of his journalism students in his long form narrative class.

Virus and host. Infection ; Symptoms ; Diagnosis ; "To keep up his courage" -- "He's through." "The psychological factor is paramount" ; "Perfectly definite in my determination" ; "A tower of blocks" ...