English Department Sweeps 2022-23 CLA Teaching Awards!
Richard Johnson-Sheehan: The Kenneth T. Kofmehl Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
Professor Johnson-Sheehan puts a special emphasis on reaching out to students who tend to struggle academically. As he knows from first-hand experience, struggling students are often first-generation students who are trying to find their place in college, and they are sometimes not equipped with the learning skills that other students take for granted. By sharing his own experiences and struggles in college with these first-generation students, he finds that he can connect with them where they are. These students usually need to be reassured that they belong in college and that their professors do care about their success. The active learning approach to teaching writing tends to build confidence, and he hopes these first-generation students will begin to see that they have the same capabilities as the other students.
Michael Johnston: Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher
Professor Johnston also been recognized as a national advocate for teaching about the history of the book. In 2009, the Medieval Academy of America’s Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (an annual meeting of those who direct centers for medieval studies) invited him to participate on a panel about teaching the history of the book to undergrads. As a result of this panel, Professor Johnston proposed a special volume of Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, which he edited. He wrote the introduction, contributed his own essay, and solicited contributions from five additional scholar-teachers, and this volume appeared in 2012. That same year, the Medieval Academy of America invited Professor Johnston to participate on a panel about teaching manuscripts to undergraduates, which was held at the International Medieval Congress at Western Michigan University.
Bradley Dilger: Outstanding Graduate Teacher
Professor Dilger values collaboration with his graduate students. In his first year at Purdue, he served as the faculty sponsor of a graduate student organization focusing on collaborative research and teaching. Prof. Dilger later invited students with interest to join his Corpus & Repository of Writing research team to learn more about collaborative research. As a result, Professor Dilger has nine completed peer-reviewed publications with thirteen current or former graduate students: four articles in journals, three articles in conference proceedings, and two chapters in edited collections, with five more publications in progress. This work has included graduate students at Purdue and the University of Arizona, as well as former students now in tenure-stream positions.
Holly Baker: Outstanding Lecturer
Dr. Baker has found that running simulations that turn her classroom into a workplace-like environment has been highly effective helping students achieve learning outcomes. Simulations differ depending on the course. For instance, in her Digital Design and Production class, Dr. Baker runs the classroom like an art studio: leading follow-along tutorials, giving lectures on history of the profession, teaching design principles, modeling current practices, performing, collaborative analysis, and directing in-class exercises with on-the-spot feedback and revision practice. In her Business Writing for Entrepreneurs class, she replicates a start-up business environment, in which students develop a business plan over the course of the semester. These simulated environments facilitate intellectual growth and creativity through regular skills practice, feedback loops, and collaboration between students and instructor.
Faculty Teaching Awards from Previous Years
Indiana Professor of the Year
Bob Lamb
Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (Purdue’s highest teaching honor)
Emily Allen
Dorsey Armstrong
Kristina Bross
Bob Lamb
Derek Pacheco
Purdue Book of Great Teachers
Emily Allen
Margie Berns
Kristina Bross
Bob Lamb
Nancy Peterson
Charles Ross
Irwin H. Weiser
Kenneth T. Kofmehl Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (College’s of Liberal Arts’ teaching highest honor)
Dorsey Armstrong
Angelica Duran
Dino Felluga
Chris Lukasik
Robyn Malo
Derek Pacheco
Nush Powell
Venetria Patton
College of Liberal Arts Educational Excellence Award
Margie Berns
Nancy Peterson
Patricia Sullivan
College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Teaching Award
Angelica Duran
Dino Felluga
Bob Lamb
Robyn Malo
Derek Pacheco
Nush Powell
Tony Silva
Purdue Teaching Academy
Emily Allen
Kris Bross
Bob Lamb
Chris Lukasik
Nancy Peterson
Purdue Teaching for Tomorrow Award
Emily Allen
Angelica Duran
Jennifer Freeman-Marshall
Tara Star Johnson
Dino Felluga
April Ginther
Maren Linett
Derek Pacheco
Nancy Peterson
Nush Powell
Center for Undergraduate Instructional Excellence Fellow
Emily Allen
Kristina Bross
Jenny Bay
Dino Felluga
Bob Lamb
Nancy Peterson
Charles Ross
Ryan Schneider
Overall Excellence in Teaching Award (the English department’s highest teaching honor, established 2012)
Dorsey Armstrong
Dino Felluga
Bob Lamb
Maren Linett
Robyn Malo
Derek Pacheco
Nancy Peterson
English Department Excellence in Teaching Award
Emily Allen
Dorsey Armstrong
Jenny Bay
Margie Berns
Kristina Bross
Marlo David
Angelica Duran
John Duvall
Dino Felluga
Wendy Flory
Jennifer Freeman-Marshall
April Ginther
Shaun Hughes
Bob Lamb
Maren Linett
Chris Lukasik
Robyn Malo
Derek Pacheco
Nancy Peterson
Nush Powell
Charles Ross
Aparajita Sagar
Ryan Schneider
Tony Silva