Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

April 19, 2016

By Simon Goodacre | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

On May 4, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) will honor the 2016 outstanding teaching fellows. The awards will be presented by Eric Chasalow, the Dean of GSAS, at a reception in the Mandel Center. The recipients are selected by their academic departments and represent the best student educators at GSAS.

Almost everyone can remember the anxiety of stepping into the classroom as a student for the first time. Doctoral students at GSAS will tell you that entering a classroom in an instructional role for the first time fills you with an even greater feeling of apprehension. “To stand in front of a class as the official lecturer was terrifying,” says Holly Walters, one of this year’s award winners. Another recipient, Yasser Kureshi, wondered, “Would I be clear and easy to understand? Would I be very boring? Would I be able to answer their questions? Would they get my jokes?” Walters sums up the stark reality: “If class goes well, it's on you. If it goes poorly, it's on you.”

As time progressed, all the award recipients found their feet and started to enjoy the experience. “The first class passed and so did the second and third one,” says Talia Amar. “I became more and more confidant about my teaching. Pretty soon, I was very proud of my class and of myself–I knew they were learning something and that was awesome!” Others found that simple strategies helped them impart knowledge. “Whenever I gave students visual handouts breaking down difficult concepts or organizing a set of historical events, the students responded enthusiastically and found it easier to participate,” says Kureshi. Walters realized that, “preparation is nine-tenths of the game. You never really know what you're going to say in class until you say it.”

In the end, the teaching fellows became increasingly enthusiastic about the experience. “Being a teaching fellow at Brandeis has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my time as a graduate student at Brandeis, says Kureshi. “The process of conducting one's own research can often be slow and isolating. Teaching became a vital source of interaction and regular feedback for me.” For Walters, teaching has been a tangible reminder of how far she has come as a scholar. “You truly don’t get to see the depth and breadth of all the work you've put into getting to that moment until you stand before a class of students,” she says. 

The 2016 Teaching Fellows Award winners are:

• Sean Beebe, History

• Thomas Bertorelli, Sociology

• Courtney Pina Miller, English

• Brenden O'Donnell, UWS

• Jing Bi, Teaching Chinese     

• Brie (Brittani) McLemore, Women’s and Gender Studies

• Holly Walters, Anthropology

• Alexander Hensley, Physics

• Alex Farberg, Chemistry

• Melanie Harris, Ancient Greek and Roman Studies

• Daniel Berman, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

• Yan Zhuang, Mathematics

• Nick Moran, Computer Science

• Talia Amar, Music Composition

• Jacques Dupuis, Musicology

• Yasser Kureshi, Politics 

• Cara Pina*, Life Sciences

• Sarah Lupis**, Psychology

*Pulin Sampat Award

**Verna Regan Award