The Fintz Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts and Humanities
The Fintz Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts and Humanities recognizes outstanding faculty who, in keeping with the goals of integrative studies, seek to engage students with arts and humanities ways of knowing and to assist them in developing critical thinking and effective communication skills. The Fintz Award is possible thanks to an endowment provided by Professor Ken Waltzer, former director of CISAH, to honor his father. The selection of candidates, final recommendations made by the CISAH Advisory Committee, and awards ceremony take place during the spring semester of each year. IAH faculty may receive the Fintz Awards only once every five years.
2023 Award Recipients
Brandon Conley
The Fintz Awards Committee is pleased to honor Brandon Conley, Instructor in Romance and Classical Studies, for his outstanding teaching of IAH 221A: “The Fall of the Roman Republic” in Fall 2022. The awards committee was impressed by Professor Conley’s innovative use of performance in the classroom, thereby creating active engagement with course content through role-play and embodiment of historical events. Students expressed appreciation for Conley’s pedagogical methods, which they identified as enhancing their learning. As one student noted, “Allowing us to actually participate and reenact history really helped me learn the material.” It was evident to the committee that this instructor fostered student enthusiasm about the arts and humanities while encouraging students to think critically about historical questions and to navigate multiple perspectives.
Leah Addis, Carol Arnold, Carol Wilson-Duffy
The Fintz Awards committee is pleased to honor Carol Wilson-Duffy, Carol Arnold, and Leah Addis for their outstanding teaching of IAH 231A Sec. 732, Human Values in the Arts and Humanities. Their innovative, co-developed course, “Global Fact Hunters: Testing our knowledge of the world & exploring our unconscious biases,” which they taught asynchronously online in separate sections, examines how we understand our world and explores our unconscious biases. It considers what is inaccurate or incomplete in our worldview, what voices and perspectives we miss, and what histories we have forgotten or that have been silenced. Through project-based assignments, such as personal reflections, collaborative curation, and creative communication, students think critically about representations in the arts and media, as well as how the creative arts clarify and communicate important truths. Students agreed that the clear organization of the course, as well as the consideration and encouragement of the instructors, made learning enjoyable and facilitated an expansion of their critical thought and appreciation of the role of the arts and humanities in our lives.
Alena Aniskiewicz
The Fintz Awards Committee is pleased to honor Alena Aniskiewicz for her teaching in IAH 207.011: Literatures, Cultures, Identities (Fall semester, 2022). Professor Aniskiewicz’s innovative course “On the Road: Identity and Community in Travel Narratives” analyzed symbols of escape, adventure, freedom, self-discovery, and danger while exploring themes of individual and community identity through the study of road trip narratives. In this course, Professor Aniskiewicz and her students engaged ideas of belonging, independence, nostalgia, change, displacement, and difference by discussing the evolution and diversification of narratives about the American road. One student wrote that Professor Aniskiewicz “did a great job trying to engage all of the students in the material. She made every assignment a little different and challenged the students.” Another student described her as “very passionate and understanding throughout the course.” The Committee recognized that Professor Aniskiewicz made the course enjoyable for students by promoting energetic and enthusiastic critical engagement with complex socio-historical questions.
Eileen Roraback
The Fintz Awards Committee is delighted to honor Eileen Roraback for her teaching in IAH 206, Self, Society, and Technology. Professor Roraback’s innovative course on “Creativity and Innovation” explored definitions and manifestations of creativity, creative problem solving, and artistic expression. Using examples from areas as different as physics, the visual arts, politics, and the social sciences, Professor Roraback encouraged students to analyze how others have creatively solved seemingly-intransigent problems, and then to develop their own strategies and tactics for problem-solving. Students expressed admiration for her intellect and passion, and appreciation for the way she opened up new ways of thinking about problems large and small. She is “one of the most understanding and empathetic professors I have ever had at Michigan State,” noted one student. She taught us to understand “what creativity really is,” wrote another student. “Before this class I never really thought much about creativity” and its role in our lives. The Committee also took note of Professor Roraback’s exemplary service in and for IAH; her spring 2022 course reflected a passion and collegiality that has infused her contributions to IAH and the College of Arts and Letters.
The Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching
The Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes graduate teaching assistants who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence, innovation and creativity in undergraduate teaching. Nominees are recommended by faculty and students for their strong ability to promote meaningful student-teacher interaction, as well as in creating a classroom environment that encourages active learning and critical thinking.
2023 Winners
Jonah Branding
We are pleased to award Jonah Branding with The Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching for his exemplary work in IAH 207 in the spring of 2022. As remarked by the students, Branding was an enthusiastic and engaging teacher. He was always ready to help explain a complicated concept, and would often make himself available beyond the normal hours. An exciting learner, and passionate teacher, he was always happy to be interacting and trading ideas with the students. For this, and more, the Committee is pleased to present Jonah with The 2023 Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Emily Demski
Emily Demski was an exemplary Teaching Assistant for IAH 241A. Students praised her for not only teaching them about the arts and humanities but for doing so in a way that was kind and exhilarating. Class discussions, one student noted, “were engaging and helped to learn course content.” Another student called her “the most caring teacher I’ve had in my experience at MSU,” and added that she is “passionate and fosters great discussions that get the class excited about the topic.” Demski’s approach to teaching IAH created an inclusive climate in which students were comfortable contributing and learning from each other. In recognition of this superb teaching, the Committee is glad to recognized Emily Demski’s work with the Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Sinclair Portis
The IAH Teaching Award Committee is pleased to award Sinclair Portis the Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching for their outstanding performance as a Graduate teaching assistant for IAH 207 in the Summer of 2022. Portis received exceptionally high scores on their student evaluations. Students described her as: “awesome,” “encouraging,” “super kind,” “organized,” “very responsive,” and as someone who “put a lot of time and effort into making sure [students] got the most out of the course.” Her students also said that she made class “fun and engaging.” Students also acknowledged that she “was amazing at making sure that [students] had a positive environment every class.” The Committee congratulates Sinclair on this recognition, and wish her well on her future teaching career!
Emily Yates
The IAH GA Teaching Award Committee is pleased to award The Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching to Emily Yates. Ms. Yates had excellent SIRS scores for the both semesters in 2022. Her students offered remarks such as “She was always available and helped us edit our writing while still allowing it to be our own.” This reflects Ms. Yates dedication to her students, and her respect for their voices in their work. Another student stated, “She was an amazing teacher with a passion to teach… it was a pleasure to learn from her.” One student wrote that s/he would “nominate her because of her excitement over teaching and her willingness to hear our opinions. Similar remarks such as these were seen in the SIRS comments for each of Ms. Yates’ classes for each of the semesters in 2022. The Award Committee is proud to be able to recognize such professionalism, passion and dedication on the part of IAH GAs like Ms. Yates.
A.C. Loji
IAH GA Teaching Award Committee is pleased to award The Somers Award for Excellence in Teaching to A.C. (Ames) Loji. Ms. Loji had excellent SIRS scores for both semesters in 2022. Her students offered remarks such as “She was great at reading the room of the class and understanding the wants and needs of the students. She readily changed or adjusted plans to assist students. This reflects Ms. Loji’s dedication to her students, and her respect for their needs as learners. Another student stated, “She kept me engaged in the recitations because I knew that she also enjoyed teaching.” The Committee recognizes that when a teacher’s enthusiasm motivates our students, students succeed. Another student wrote that “she was passionate and personal with us …” Another said, “She helped me better understand all material and expectations for every assignment. Similar remarks such as these were seen in the SIRS comments for each of Ms. Loji’s classes for each of the semesters in 2022. The Award Committee is proud to be able to recognize such professionalism, passion and dedication on the part of IAH GAs like Ms. Loji.
Suzanne Feldkamp
In their SIRS comments, Suzanne Feldkamp’s students praised her deep knowledge of the subject and her careful consideration of students’ input, opinions, and questions. They often mentioned that she was their favorite TA because she encouraged them to explore and express their own ideas. As one student wrote, “I always felt engaged in class. I am usually a very shy person, but during recitation with her I felt comfortable to share my thoughts often.” Another student mentioned that Ms. Feldkamp personalized her teaching by relating the course material to the students’ lives and music that they listened to. The student emphasized that “she did a really good job at keeping everyone engaged and interested in the topics that we covered. She was also open to new ideas and very accepting with the comments and opinions people had in class about our discussion topics.” To summarize her students’ written responses: Ms. Feldkamp did a great job of listening to her students and “making class fun.”
2023 Service to IAH Award
IAH Student Awards Committee
CISAH is pleased to honor the IAH Student Awards Committee for the Service to IAH Award. They have gone above and beyond to develop a way to reward student work in IAH courses, using thoughtful and nuanced consideration of the wide variety of assignments and disciplinary approaches found in IAH courses as well as the other ways beyond assignments that students contribute positively to their classroom communities in IAH courses. This committee has spent a considerable amount of time and dedication, drawing on their extensive knowledge of teaching IAH, as a way to value and celebrate student voices and contributions more fully. It is notable that participation in this committee, for almost all committee members, is above and beyond their usual service expectations, which makes their efforts and achievements all the more impressive.