CAS Outstanding Teaching Fellow Awards
Academic Year 2011/12
Thursday, May 3, 2012
3:30 p.m.
CAS 200
CAS Outstanding Teaching Fellows, Academic Year 2011/12
Most of our PhD students are planning to enter the academy, and as such, the training,
guidance, and experience we give them in developing their skills as teachers and
academic mentors is a critical part of their graduate training. As teaching fellows, these
teacher/scholars play very important roles in contributing to the high quality of
undergraduate education at Boston University. Very often they are the instructors who
get to know our undergraduates best in the earliest stages of their college careers. Each
year we honor the best of our teaching fellows—those who stand out already in making
a major difference in the teaching mission of Boston University. Please join me in
admiring their dedication and work, and in wishing them well as they continue to grow
as educators through their later careers.
—Virginia Sapiro, Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
American & New England Studies
Sarah Leventer
Sarah served as a teaching fellow in Fall 2011 for Professor Pat Hills in AH 398:
Twentieth-Century American Art and Professor Hills called her “the best teaching
fellow she ever had.” This spring, Sarah worked with Professor Bruce Schulman
in HI 339: The United States Since 1968. By mid-February, Professor Schulman
stated that she “is a wonder. I just want to let you know that Sarah Leventer has
been doing an outstanding job as my teaching fellow. Faced with a less-thanideal situation (no assigned sections, etc.), she has added huge value to the
course. She’s also remarkably mature and well-organized. Rarely have I
benefitted so much from a TF.” With such accolades from two faculty members
in two different departments, the selection of Sarah for the award was an easy
call.
Anthropology
Caitlin O’Connell
Caitlin is a third-year graduate student studying the behavioral endocrinology of
wild orangutans under the supervision of Dr. Cheryl Knott. An exceptionally
talented young scholar, she has a passion for science and a gift for inspiring her
students. She has been the head teaching fellow for AN 102: Introduction to
Biological Anthropology this year, and has taught both the summer and
extension school versions of this course on her own. Caitlin has made the subject
more enjoyable and more approachable for the hundreds of students who take it
each year. Even more impressively, Caitlin has demonstrated great leadership in
helping the four other teaching fellows (who are cultural anthropology graduate
students) better understand material that is sometimes unfamiliar to them. This
year, because of her demonstrated competence and leadership in AN 102, the
faculty in biological anthropology trusted her to lead the development of eleven
weekly 2-hour laboratory exercises for the new and improved lab version of the
AN 102 course. The labs have been enormously successful and would not have
been possible without her leadership and dedication. As a valuable colleague
and an indispensable part of our teaching program, Caitlin O’Connell is strongly
deserving of recognition as an Outstanding Teaching Fellow.
Archaeology
Ilaria Pantania
Ilaria Pantania has served as a teaching fellow for AR 100: Great Discoveries in
Archaeology for two consecutive semesters. Ilaria started teaching AR 100 during
a transitional phase in which we were dramatically expanding enrollments in the
class (enrollments this semester were 387) and changing the course format by
adding discussion sections. These discussion sections are planned and run by the
teaching fellows. Ilaria has done an excellent job in developing a complementary
curriculum for the discussion sections. Students have commented on how much
they enjoy her discussion sections and the class presentation and exercises she
introduced and developed. She also presented in the lecture section on the
archaeology of China and did an outstanding job. Ilaria pushes students to do
their best and is strongly committed to education. Ilaria exemplifies the type of
teaching fellows that make our undergraduate program in archaeology so
successful.
Astronomy
Karen Williamson
Karen is a second-year student in Astronomy, working toward her PhD in
Astrophysics. She is currently the TF in AS 100, one of the largest Astronomy
classes ever taught, meaning one where every section is at capacity. She handles
most of the class administration for this complex class, including managing
Blackboard and IT, lecture revisions in PowerPoint, making one-page summaries
of each lecture, and the overall grade book. The grade book alone includes a
dizzying amount of information from hourly exams, discussion section
quizzes, homework, planetarium and Night Labs, and extra-point options. She
also runs three discussion sections, keeping them engaging and lively. In
summary, Karen Williamson functions at an Instructor level, going well beyond
the requirements for a teaching fellow.
Biology
Sarah Oppelt
Sarah Oppelt was nominated by Professor Stjepko Golubic, who writes that the
“excellence and independence in her teaching deserves this acknowledgement.”
Sarah has served as a TF for both BI 311: Microbiology and BI 114: Human
Infectious Disease, a non-majors course. Her student evaluations are
exceptional, averaging 4.87 in the overall rating of instructor category. Many
students have written that she is helpful, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic, and
that she is the “BEST TF” they’ve had at BU.
Boston University Marine Program (BUMP)
Eli Romero
Eli Romero’s performance in BI/ES 539: Coral Reef Dynamics was truly
outstanding. This Marine Semester course featured a 10-day excursion to a rustic
marine lab located on a mangrove island, 8 miles off the coast of southern
Belize. Given the logistical difficulties of conducting research under relatively
primitive conditions, Eli’s work began in earnest several weeks before the actual
start of the class. Furthermore, his knowledge of the Belizean barrier reef proved
critical to planning the field trips that would be required by each student project.
As a native Belizean, Eli was also invaluable in dealing with key contacts in
country, including faculty at the University of Belize, officials in the
Environmental Research Institute, and hardware vendors. Student evaluations of
Eli’s performance were effusively positive. Eli’s average score for “Overall
Instructor Rating” on the course evaluation forms was 4.91 ± 0.3 out of 5.0 (with
11 of 11 students responding). This was the top score by a TF in all of our 11
Marine Semester courses in 2011. The sentiments expressed in the comments
section were consistently complimentary of Eli’s performance. As one student
put it, “Eli was always there to help us with our project. He was enthusiastic,
easy-going, and explained things very well.” Another student commented that Eli
“knows pretty much everything about everything around Belize and is great at
teaching us about things.” A third student called him “the go-to guy in Belize,”
while a fourth exclaimed “Thank God for Eli!”
Chemistry
Leigh Foster
For the past two years, Leigh Foster has been fantastic as a discussion leader in
General Chemistry 101 & 102. Her dedication and commitment to teaching is
evident in the praise she receives from both students and faculty. In particular,
her students appreciate her ability to clearly and effectively convey difficult
concepts in a way that makes them accessible and more interesting. One student
said, “She’s the reason I am understanding this difficult course.” One of the
instructors with whom Leigh works remarked, “I believe with the dedication she
has for the course, [Leigh] has raised the standards for what kind of work is
expected of a discussion TF.” Leigh is a fourth-year MA/PhD student in the
research lab of Professor John Straub. She entered the program as a Dean’s
Fellow and was subsequently awarded an ACES Fellowship by the Center for
Computational Sciences. She currently studies the effect of sequence and
environment on the structure and change of amyloid precursor protein. In other
words, Leigh studies the genesis of amyloid beta, a protein associated with
Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease. The Chemistry
Department faculty, staff, and students are grateful for Leigh’s service and are
highly enthusiastic about her being recognized with this award.
Classical Studies
Michael Wheeler
Mike Wheeler has been a teaching fellow in our graduate program since Fall
2008. During the last four years, he has had a variety of teaching assignments, in
all of which he has performed with great ability, dedication, and effectiveness.
This year, he has taught with particular success two stand-alone Latin classes,
one in Beginning Latin, and the other in a fourth-semester class on Vergil’s
Aeneid. In Beginning Latin, Mike was particularly effective in getting students to
memorize vast amount of Latin forms and to understand the intricacies of
grammar by using a variety of strategies, especially patience and good
humor. He similarly developed a strong rapport with students when teaching the
Aeneid, getting them excited by the beauty of Vergilian poetics. Mike’s own
research focuses primarily on the poet Catullus. He is currently writing his
dissertation prospectus on Catullus’ use of obscenity and invective, important
themes when studying the shifting persona of the “I” in his poetry. This promises
to be a fruitful topic—and fun. Mike is an excellent teacher and a serious young
scholar with a sense of humor. We are confident that he has a fine career ahead
of him.
Computer Science
Dan Schatzberg
Dan Schatzberg is a PhD candidate at the Computer Science Department of CAS.
His research interests are in novel system software for advanced parallel
computers. Dan has served with distinction as a teaching fellow for the required
Introduction to Computer Systems course. Dan effectively brings his passion for
computer systems, exceptional systems programming skills, and care for
undergraduate education to his teaching. His teaching evaluations consistently
show his excellence in communicating systems concepts, his knowledge of and
enthusiasm for the subject he teaches, his dedication and care for his students,
and his ability to stimulate their thinking and develop their understanding.
Earth Sciences
Samantha Wright
Samantha Wright received outstanding evaluations from the classes she taught
(4.64, 4.8, and 4.81 out of 5). We report here some admirable comments from
the students: “Samantha is very willing to help, very patient with the class.”
“Samantha is very approachable and nice, always very available by email or in
her office.” “Samantha was great in explaining the lab concepts and answering
our questions.”
Economics
Amrit Amirapu
Amrit Amirapu has long been passionate about teaching. In fact, before starting
his PhD in economics, he taught math and economics in a high school in
Waltham, MA. When asked about his views of teaching, he replied, “I had a lot of
great teachers growing up, and I think it made a big difference in my life. A good
teacher should open doors, either by helping you acquire certain skills or
stimulating your interest in something. I don't know how successful I am, but I
hope I’m able to do some of those things for some of my students.” The
economics department nominated Amrit both because of his excellent teaching
and for his remarkable dedication in the way he helps out both instructors and
his fellow TFs. Amrit’s research interests are in the fields of development
economics and organizational economics.
English
Michael Hogan
A seasoned classroom presence—and veteran secondary-school instructor—
Michael Hogan has honed his performance in recent semesters to the point
where he now routinely garners scores of 4.5+ (out of a possible 5) from his
students, who express warm admiration in their evaluations for everything from
his mastery at leading discussions to his ability to help them improve their
writing. He enjoyed perfect scores, in fact, in the EN 127: Literary Types: Poetry
section he managed last fall, for his “availability outside of class” and “quality of
feedback to students,” along with an “overall instructor rating” of 4.889.
Professor Laura Korobkin, who mentored Michael’s class last semester, likewise
spoke warmly about her own experience in the two sessions she visited,
remarking how impressed she was “with Mike’s ability to draw students into a
nuanced and deeply engaged discussion of poetic form as well as to guide them
in careful close readings of specific poems,” and how “his passion for poetry is
infectious.” Professor Lee also offered high praise for Michael’s teaching.
Michael served as his teaching fellow in an EN 220 course, where he proved an
“insightful commentator,” an “excellent facilitator of discussions,” and ultimately
“as much a co-teacher as a TF.” While moving ahead with his scholarly pursuits
alongside his advanced peers in our discipline, Michael has demonstrated a
commitment to teaching that distinguishes him even among the dedicated
young professionals we have long enjoyed in our department.
Geography & Environment
Valerie Pasquarella
Valerie is an amazing TF! She is sincerely dedicated to putting in the time and
thought necessary to ensure that our students have the best and most
productive experience possible. As the sole teaching fellow for GE 375:
Introduction to Quantitative Environmental Modeling this year, she has been
extremely helpful in working with the course instructor to coordinate materials
between the lecture and lab portions of our class, is consistently organized and
well-prepared, and is always looking for ways to streamline and improve the lab
portion of this course, as well as providing the instructor with feedback to help
improve the course overall. Valerie has vastly overshot even the maximum
requirements for her teaching fellow position, and she puts the same level of
thorough care and thoughtfulness into all of her other endeavors here at BU.
History
Aaron Hiltner
Aaron Hiltner graduated summa cum laude and with honors in history from the
Minnesota liberal arts college Gustavus Adolphus, where he also twice won the
DeNault Award for best undergraduate history paper. He joined the Boston
University History Department as a PhD student in modern American history in
Fall 2010. Aaron has served as a grader for several classes and earned high praise
from students as a teaching fellow for HI 300: American Popular Culture. During
the next academic year, he will become the assistant editor for Modern
Intellectual History, complete his qualifying exams, and begin work on a
dissertation that uncovers the history of Saigon during the Vietnam War from
French, American, and Vietnamese points of view.
History of Art & Architecture
Melanee Harvey
Melanee Harvey is a natural-born teacher. She has been a teaching fellow for the
last three semesters and has also taught her own course in last year’s Summer
Term. She is poised, prepared, and has an excellent presence. She listens to the
students, has encouraging words for them, and then restates their words into
the more sophisticated language of artistic discourse. This helps the students
hone their own interpretations. But she is also very down-to-earth and hence
very accessible to them, even while holding them to high standards. Student
evaluations comment on her encouragement of students to participate. One
student wrote: “Harvey was very encouraging and energetic. She was clear in her
explanation of assignments and her expectations throughout the semester. Very
friendly and overall an understanding and nice person.” Another said: “Melanee
is such an engaging instructor; she lets everyone participate and encourages
everyone to be involved. She knows what she’s talking about, is friendly, and
approachable…Also: She knows our names!! ...Discussion is extremely helpful
and helps clarify and summarize all of the scattered information gathered from
lecture. EXCELLENT.” Her research interests focus on African American art and
artists. She will be writing her dissertation on African American artists and the
Black church.
Mathematics & Statistics
Elizabeth Fitzgibbon
Liz Fitzgibbon is working in dynamical systems. She is one of our best teaching
fellows ever. She came to us with extensive experience teaching high school and
has become a leader, helping with teaching fellow training and playing an
essential role in the renovation of our Calculus sequence. In answer to the “What
are the strengths of this teaching fellow?” questions on student evaluations from
Calculus last semester (over 180 of them!), a typical answer was “Liz is always
very helpful and friendly when answering questions. She is willing to work oneon-one and work with you until you feel comfortable with the material.” In
answer to the question, “What are the weaknesses of this teaching fellow?” a
significant number found one flaw with Liz: “There is only one of her.” The
department agrees.
Neuroscience
Sam McKenzie
Sam McKenzie served as a graduate teaching fellow for CAS NE 203: Principles of
Neuroscience w/Lab, in Fall 2011. Sam’s passion for science and his willingness
to work with and on behalf of his students is plainly evident to everyone who
meets and works with him, including his students, peers, and course instructors.
Week after week, Sam went to heroic lengths to ensure that his students
understood course material. On top of a highly active and productive research
program of his own, he held extra office hours when necessary, worked with
students individually, and brought them into his lab to further demonstrate
concepts germane to the course. The following are excerpts from his post-course
evaluations. “…very passionate about the subject AND about us learning and
getting interested in Neuro…he gives really good feedback on how to improve
and how to survive the class. Best TF on campus as far as I’m concerned.” “Sam
is the bomb diggity.” “Sam is very passionate about helping students succeed
and understand the material that’s relevant to the lab. Without fail, he has
provided encouragement and support, and has been extremely helpful.” Perhaps
most importantly, Sam treated his students as equals. To him, they were people
first, each with a unique background that for some was more or less suited to
the subject. Sam is a truly dedicated mentor, whose promise of success is
apparent in each of his academic and professional endeavors.
Philosophy
Joshua Duclos
Joshua Duclos, of the Department of Philosophy, has interests in ethics, the
history of philosophy, and the philosophy of sport (which he will teach on his
own this summer). Faculty in the department have described Josh as
“exceptionally responsible and diligent,” “highly intelligent,” “good-natured,”
and an “excellent collaborator.” We think he has a most promising future in the
classroom.
Physics
Maira Constantino
Maira has a bachelor’s degree in physics from the State University Campinas in
Brazil, and is in her second year at Boston University. She has a 3.70 cumulative
grade point average, and she earned High-Pass grades on both parts of our
written comprehensive exam last September. She has been a teaching fellow in
each of her four semesters in our department. Last semester, she taught in PY
212, one of our Introductory Physics courses. She received an excellent overall
numerical evaluation of 4.55 out of 5 points. And the comments from her
students were uniform in their praise of her. Some examples are: “Maira is very
excellent. She explains the material well and is always willing to help. She is very
friendly and approachable. She is the best!!! I absolutely loved taking this lab
simply because Maira was very cheerful and friendly in the morning. She is one
of my best TFs to date.” “She explained concepts really well and took time for us
to ask (a lot) of questions. She was extremely patient. She was an incredible TF!
She was so easy to get along with and she was very nice and helpful. I felt so
lucky to have her!” Maira taught in PY 211 this semester. The professors for the
course praised her efforts. Professor Jim Miller said, “Maira is excellent. She
explains things very well to students. When we go over the labs the weeks
before, she has uniformly good suggestions about how the labs should proceed.
She’s a natural and is the best lab TF we have.” Maira Constantino exemplifies
the qualities of an outstanding physics teacher.
Political Science
Kristin Sippl
Kristin has served three times as a TF for Michael Corgan for IR/PO 271:
Introduction to International Relations and writes the following: “From the first I
knew she was exceptional. Kristin stepped into her teaching assignment with no
need for coaching or mentoring. Unsolicited student comments in her first few
weeks showed that she was a gifted instructor...she was able to explain new
concepts to students in a way that helped them integrate the wide range of
material covered in an introduction to an interdisciplinary field... In fifteen years
I have taught this course 26 times with the assistance of nearly 50 TFs. None has
been better than Kristin Sippl and few come close to her suite of capabilities…
Indeed I consider her now as a junior colleague.” Professor Ivan Arreguin-Toft’s
recommendation of Ms. Sippl mirrors many of the sentiments expressed by
Professor Corgan. He states: “It has been my very good fortune to work with
Kristin not once, but twice, in her capacity as teaching fellow; and both times her
work for me (and her students and colleagues) was brilliant. She exemplifies a
rare combination of gravitas and grace that attracts her students to whatever
material she’s engaging, and inspires them to challenge themselves… In short,
while I have worked with a number of TFs in my short time here at Boston
University, Kristin remains my top pick as TF.”
Psychology
Lauren O’Brien
The Department of Psychology is very lucky to have Lauren O’Brien as a doctoral
student and teaching fellow. Lauren has been ambitious in using the section
meetings she leads to introduce new material to students in creative and
engaging ways. She has helped the faculty members she works with to improve
their own lecture slides and thus the quality of their lectures. She has developed
new exam questions that get at just the points faculty have been trying to teach,
using clear and meaningful examples. Faculty she works with have felt fully
supported by Lauren at every turn, with a true partner to continue the work in
her own sections. She even took over one faculty member’s lectures for a twoweek period when the faculty member needed to be absent on medical leave,
doing a stellar job. In addition to all of her contributions to the Psychology
Department’s teaching mission, Lauren has assisted three faculty members with
their own research in diverse areas, showing an amazing ability to master theory
and methods of research. She was also a winner of the Clara Mayo award to
support her own developing research agenda.
Religious & Theological Studies
Eric Dorman
Eric Dorman’s field of research is the religions of South Asia and their interaction
with science, including intellectual history and contemporary interpretations of
physical and medical science. He focuses in particular on yoga as both a religious
philosophy and a practice, especially in the context of contemporary medical
research on yoga as complementary and alternative health therapy. He has
taught Religions of the World—East; Magic, Science and Religion; and several
courses in Introduction to Religion, and is universally praised by professors he
has worked with for his superlative organizational skills, technological savvy, and
rock-solid dependability. Extremely committed, accessible, and helpful to
students, passionate about his material, Eric is devoted to teaching religious
studies to students from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests across the
University.
Romance Studies
Sophia Mizouni
A gifted teacher, Sophia Mizouni taught second-year French at a consistently
high level, engaging her students in innovative and creative ways, making
learning and using the French language both interesting and rewarding. Sophia is
able to explain grammar concepts clearly, as well as stimulate interest in reading
and discussion of Camus’ novel L’Etranger. Her expectations are high, and her
students rise to meet them. Sophia is always open to new ideas, and she shows
this by visiting other classes and considering different techniques and
approaches. Quick to share her own classroom methodology, Sophia is a
hardworking, generous, and imaginative colleague.
Sociology
Sarah Hosman
Sarah Hosman has been a student in the PhD program in sociology at BU since
Fall 2010. She received her BA from the University of Southern Mississippi and
her MA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Sarah has written
and published on Muslim punk rock movements and is also interested in popular
culture and markets.
Writing Program
Jessica Kent
Jessica Kent taught in the Writing Program as a Teaching Fellow in Fall 2007 and
Spring 2008; she taught as a Graduate Writing Fellow from Fall 2010 through
Spring 2012. Over the course of these semesters, she offered an array of
seminars on literature that proved to be not only tremendously popular with
students but also models of thoughtful and creative course design. Jessica’s
teaching has been consistently superb, as evidenced by her course evaluation
numbers. Moreover, in their comments, her students offer her the highest
possible praise: “This turned out to be my favorite course this semester.” “An
overall amazing teacher. She has definitely helped me become a substantially
better writer.” “The writing pieces assigned were actually quite fun to write. I
really enjoyed how much I learned in the class.” “Really it was just a great class.
Difficult and challenging but still manageable, awesome instructor, very funny.”
What is impressive about such comments is not the students’ enthusiasm alone
but her students’ consistent acknowledgement of the quantity and quality of the
learning in Jessica’s courses. Jessica has also served for a number of semesters as
a tutor in our Writing Center and has received superlative reviews from the
faculty coordinators of this program