Features
The Goergen Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching recognize the distinctive teaching accomplishments and skills of faculty in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering. Presented each year since 1997, the awards were established by trustee Robert Goergen 鈥60 and his wife, Pamela, to recognize, reward, and encourage strong and innovative undergraduate teaching.
鈥淭he Goergen Awards have really driven a University-wide discussion about the importance of teaching,鈥 says Andrew Berger, a professor of optics and a recipient of the award in 2007.
As the College Class of 2011 leaves Rochester鈥檚 classrooms, meet a few of the recent winners who have inspired them.
Carmala Garzione
2010
It was love of the outdoors that first drew Carmala Garzione, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, to her field of sedimentology and tectonics鈥攂ut more abstract attractions have provided its enduring appeal.
鈥淢any geologists will tell you the ability to spend time outside is a big draw,鈥 she says, 鈥渁nd for me, early on, it was. But I also really like the big questions I ask in my research. What does the elevation history of mountains tell us about how they grew? How have mountains altered Earth鈥檚 climate over time? What are the larger-scale tectonic processes at play in convergent tectonic settings?鈥
When Garzione teaches her undergraduate courses鈥擨ntroduction to Geological Sciences and Sedimentology and Stratigraphy鈥攕he leads her students to the terrain of those large questions, but she never loses sight of their own grasp of the material.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 really important about teaching鈥攜ou can鈥檛 teach in the same mode for all levels,鈥 she says. 鈥淵ou have to understand where the students are in their understanding. You really need to develop a dialogue that鈥檚 consistent with their level.鈥
And dialogue is fundamental to Garzione鈥檚 courses, even when she鈥檚 lecturing. She aims never to convey facts and concepts alone, but to guide students to comprehend the thought processes behind them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really active approach to learning,鈥 she says, and she works toward solutions to problems in class rather than laying out information.
鈥淚 love to use chalk and overheads鈥攚hich I know seems old-fashioned. But it allows me to write student feedback on the median. PowerPoint just isn鈥檛 as dynamic.鈥
Garzione teaches her introductory lab course as a workshop, breaking students into teams with a peer leader鈥攁 fellow student who鈥檚 taken the course before and performed well鈥攚ho helps guide the team by asking questions.
鈥淭he ideas in this course are more challenging than what they鈥檇 encounter in a typical lab, where the problems often have single-response answers,鈥 Garzione says.
She often includes undergraduates in her fieldwork teams in places such as Bolivia and Tibet, determining the age of rocks, collecting chemical information, and interpreting their depositional environment in a quest to unlock mountains鈥 secrets about their growth mechanisms and the paleoclimate of the region.
鈥淭hey usually do a lot of grunt work, but that鈥檚 what we all do in the field as geologists.鈥
Back in the classroom, she relies on a whittled down approach. 鈥淚nitially I tried to put everything in my classes. But over time I鈥檝e realized it鈥檚 not the volume of information but the thought process that gives students an intellectual edge.鈥
G. Bingham Powell
2009
G. Bingham Powell, the Marie C. Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Political Science, is an avid observer and analyst of political systems鈥攚ith a particular taste for tensions and disputes and the divergent paths they can take.
And teaching, he says, is a way to impart his curiosity to others.
鈥淚 was drawn to political science by my interest in conflict,鈥 Powell explains. 鈥淭eaching is a chance to share my interest in and enthusiasm for political science.鈥
As incoming president in 2011鈥12 of the American Political Science Association and a highly regarded expert on comparative politics and European politics, Powell nonetheless works day to day with Rochester students just dipping their toes into the field with the course Introduction to Comparative Politics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to argue to them that there are a lot of ways to run a political system鈥攖he way we do it isn鈥檛 the only one,鈥 he says.
Coauthor and coeditor of a leading undergraduate comparative politics text, Comparative Politics Today, Powell aims to give the course a narrow focus, such as how citizens use elections to influence politics, while familiarizing students with basic political science theories and concepts.
鈥淚鈥檝e found, historically, that if I try to do everything, it satisfies nobody. The course becomes a welter of unconnected facts and concepts.鈥
In his upper-division undergraduate courses, Powell focuses on how democracies work and how conflict functions within them.
鈥淒isagreement in politics is everywhere,鈥 he says. 鈥淪ometimes the disagreements are expressed through institutions. And sometimes things boil over.鈥
He tends to concentrate these courses on a handful of countries. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 feeling brave, which is most of the time, I let the students choose one of the countries. Sometimes it鈥檚 one I know well, and sometimes not. Then I have to go to the books.鈥
That plunge into new information鈥攕tudying the development of democracy in South Africa, for instance, or the political workings of India鈥攁re 鈥渇ascinating. They pull me out of my comfort zone, which is European democracies.鈥
Even in large courses, Powell aims to foster dialogue with students. 鈥淧olitical science is in some ways straightforward,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 more subtle in its concepts than students often realize. Discussions can help them make their way through that.鈥
鈥淚n so far as there鈥檚 a common denominator鈥 in what appeals to him about teaching, 鈥渋t鈥檚 sharing something you care about,鈥 he says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always seemed to me that politics is intrinsically interesting. And most of the students find it so, too.鈥
Susan Gustafson
2009
The courses taught by Susan Gustafson, the Karl F. and Bertha A. Fuchs Professor in German, are full of magical and mysterious things: monsters, wizards, aliens, and ghosts. But the true enchantment, she says, lies in the love of learning.
鈥淭he very best learning is ultimately the result of a magical, personal excitement about something on the part of the students,鈥 she says.
Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures and a specialist in 18th- to 20th-century German literature, Gustafson uses students鈥 own curiosity as the fuel that drives her courses.
鈥淚 want students to own the class, to follow their inspirations,鈥 she says. In service of that goal, she never assigns paper topics, asking students instead to develop projects of their own conception.
鈥淭hey follow what they鈥檙e passionate about. That鈥檚 what we do as scholars.鈥
Gustafson teaches courses on German literature and culture, comparative literature, and women鈥檚 studies. As she guides students through works by Edgar Allan Poe, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud, and others, she trains them in the scholarly practice of close reading, helping students attune themselves to the significance of the smallest textual details.
鈥淚 like to look at minute changes and structural shifts in a text,鈥 she says, asking students to consider where a particular passage leads its reader. And she emphasizes the importance of rereading and rewriting鈥攖he process of scholarship.
鈥淎t the beginning of my career, I was much more lecture-oriented,鈥 she says. 鈥淎nd I didn鈥檛 let students rewrite their essays. But over the years I鈥檝e seen what鈥檚 more successful. Unless students are actively engaged in analyzing texts, they鈥檙e just wondering, 鈥楬ow did you see that?鈥欌
Gustafson鈥檚 department is a multidisciplinary one, and her own courses鈥攐ften informed by theories from other fields, such as gender studies, psychology, and film studies鈥攄raw a wide variety of students.
Gustafson credits her students and her own former teachers for her success in teaching, and places her interactions with students at the top of her professional responsibilities.
鈥淭eaching is why we鈥檙e here.鈥
Andrew Berger
2007
When Andrew Berger got his first taste of teaching鈥攁s a volunteer tutor in the New Haven, Conn., public schools鈥攈e was hooked. As a graduate student, he sought out teaching opportunities in a program that didn鈥檛 require them.
Now, as an associate professor of optics, Berger helps students to navigate their way through electromagnetic theory and to tackle advanced lab courses devoted to building lasers and studying how to manipulate light.
鈥淚鈥檓 always energized by the thought of how I can reach students, how I can help them wrestle with this material,鈥 he says.
Advisor to alternate-year incoming optics freshmen and chair of the Institute of Optics undergraduate committee, Berger is captivated by the college experience.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 transformative process is fascinating,鈥 he says. 鈥淗ow do you guide people to what鈥檚 best for them鈥 as they consider possible fields to pursue?
A specialist in biomedical optics, particularly spectroscopic diagnostic techniques, Berger admits to being an actor on the side. And in the optics classroom, his emphasis is on pulling back the curtain so that students can look carefully at what鈥檚 happening 鈥渂ackstage.鈥
鈥淚n optics, the challenge of teaching to undergraduates is not to be too abstract鈥攖o put your energy not into presenting a seamless train of thought but into chopping it up,鈥 he says. So he uses peer-led workshops, and in lectures checks in with students frequently, using questions, hypothetical scenarios, and other techniques to engage them.
鈥淚f the students don鈥檛 understand most of the content of what鈥檚 discussed, you鈥檝e wasted very precious time in the classroom.鈥
Berger thinks of himself as the students鈥 guide in working with difficult material, always explaining explicitly what he鈥檚 trying to teach them and keeping their questions at the forefront of the course. The biggest challenge, he says, is building in the time to listen during class.
鈥淎s long as I鈥檓 prepared, I love being up in front of people. I鈥檓 as happy as the next guy to hear myself talk,鈥 he says.
鈥淏ut I try to fight that temptation. I strive to talk as little as I can.鈥
James Farrar
2005
For James Farrar, a professor of chemistry, it鈥檚 all about clarity.
鈥淲hen I can explain something clearly to a student, I understand it better,鈥 he says. 鈥淎s a teacher, I鈥檓 also a learner.鈥
Teaching freshman chemistry鈥攁 large lecture course, with only a small fraction of students who go on to become chemistry majors鈥攈as given Farrar much occasion to think about how to make an often difficult subject clear, comprehensible, and even fun.
He models himself on favorite teachers he himself had. 鈥淢y teaching style comes from taking things I admired in them. They were very good at connecting words and equations. They wrote good explanations. And they had a sense of humor.鈥
Farrar tries to put a 鈥渕ore human face鈥 on science by sharing jokes and stories about eminent chemists, figures who鈥檇 otherwise just be names in textbooks for the students.
鈥淭he freshmen come in with boundless enthusiasm,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e interested in everything.鈥 And whether they become majors or not, 鈥渢he way of thinking about science, and logical thinking about science, will be part of their lives.鈥
To help students master that thinking, he uses peer-led workshops鈥攃rediting the late chemistry professor Jack Kampmeier with inspiring him to bring that method into play. He relies on them, too, in his physical chemistry and other upper-division courses.
鈥淚 learned I could improve my teaching through workshops, and for that I鈥檓 grateful to the culture of this department,鈥 he says. 鈥淲orkshops are an arena where people have to make their thinking visible to others. And that鈥檚 where the real learning gets done鈥攅xplaining and defending your thinking to other people.鈥
Farrar鈥檚 father was a chemist, 鈥渁nd he鈥檇 say I became one despite his advice.鈥 But he finds the challenge of science irresistible.
鈥淚 like thinking about atoms and molecules and how they interact with each other,鈥 he says simply. In his research, he uses molecular beam techniques to investigate where energy goes in chemical reactions.
But while he鈥檚 proud of his research, he finds more fulfillment 鈥渨hen I think about the people I鈥檝e worked with over the years.
鈥淚 take satisfaction in watching people succeed. I think that鈥檚 the bottom line.鈥
Emil Homerin
2005
鈥淚n the humanities, I believe we鈥檝e implicitly taken a 鈥楽ocratic oath,鈥欌 says Emil Homerin, a professor of religion. 鈥淚n times of crisis or loss, we can help people ask cogent questions to address the situation.鈥
Recent history has kept Homerin, a specialist in Islam, Arabic literature, and mysticism, particularly busy. A committed teacher, he takes the work of his classroom beyond the campus, talking with the media and addressing local groups to promote greater understanding of Islamic cultures and societies.
Homerin鈥攚ho says he knew from the second semester of his freshman year in college that he wanted to be a professor鈥攊s the University鈥檚 first professor of Islam.
At the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, 鈥渢here weren鈥檛 people on most faculties who were experts鈥 on Islam, he recalls. By the time he completed his doctorate in 1987, at the University of Chicago, universities were hiring specialists.
鈥淚鈥檝e had to cap my classes since I came,鈥 he says. 鈥淪tudent interest was here.鈥
Homerin teaches an introductory course on the history of Islam and another, called Islam and the Third World, that examines effects on the religion from historical, political, social, and economic factors in the developing world.
Another course鈥擲peaking Stones鈥攚as inspired by Homerin鈥檚 efforts to draw undergraduate students into the process of academic research. Students meet at Rochester鈥檚 historic Mt. Hope Cemetery, the sprawling, Victorian resting place of Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, some of Rochester鈥檚 wealthiest citizens, and some of its most vulnerable鈥攐ne corner holds the graves of children who died at the city鈥檚 orphan asylum.
Homerin鈥檚 primary area of research is medieval Arabic poetry. The difficulty of learning Arabic is an almost insurmountable obstacle for drawing students into research there, but he realized that his work on medieval Muslim saints does offer a way in.
鈥淓ssentially, I鈥檓 looking at gravestones and reading obituaries,鈥 he says. So he devised a course in which students learn about Western funeral rites and practices and about funerary art. They turn to the rich resources of Mt. Hope Cemetery to carry out original research on a gravesite there of their own choosing鈥攚ork that has repeatedly found a home in local historical publications, Homerin notes with pride.
He weaves poetry into all of his courses鈥攕omething many students aren鈥檛 used to reading, he says, but an art form of enduring popularity in the Middle East.
鈥淧oetry can bring an emotional dimension to learning that鈥檚 often lacking鈥攖o see into the world of others, and perhaps, through that, into our own.
鈥淲hen you can help students understand others, you鈥檝e done something.鈥