Three Duke professors were awarded the inaugural Judith Deckers Prize for excellence in undergraduate education Thursday.
The award seeks to recognize “teaching excellence at Duke — in and outside of the classroom,” honoring “thought leaders in the field who have a substantial track record of profoundly and positively affecting student learning and lives.”
The award was presented to Catherine Admay, senior lecturer in the Sanford School of Public Policy, Dorian Canelas, associate professor of the practice of chemistry, and Karin Shapiro, associate professor of the practice in the department of African and African American studies.
The three recipients were selected from a pool of over 500 nominations and 120 nominees which was narrowed down to 12 finalists. Each recipient will receive a monetary prize of $35,000 in addition to the recognition.
“I was gobsmacked to receive this prize,” Shapiro wrote in an email to The Chronicle. “It’s incredibly gratifying to be recognized for teaching — something that is such an essential component of my professional life and one I feel so passionate about.”
Admay echoed Shapiro’s sentiments, writing that “it’s hard to convey how meaningful this honor has felt to [her]” in an email to The Chronicle.
A reception was held Thursday evening to celebrate the honorees with remarks from Provost Alec Gallimore and Candis Watts Smith, vice provost for undergraduate education and professor of political science.
“Classroom educators are the unsung heroes of the academy and often go uncelebrated,” Watts Smith said. “Shaping the minds of future generations and inspiring growth is some of the hardest work in education.”
Admay further emphasized how receiving the award was “really about the students who [she has] had the great privilege to see and hold space for.” She also called on the “hive” of hard-working faculty, staff, librarians and research and teaching assistants at Duke who have made her success possible.
“It truly takes all of us,” she wrote.
Admay’s teaching and research interests lie in the fields of human rights, law and development, global health, comparative constitutional law of socioeconomic rights, conflict transformation and interdisciplinary engagements with law — such as ethics, arts and storytelling.
Canelas has taught several introductory-level chemistry courses, working to implement student-centered pedagogies and increase undergraduate retention in the sciences. Her research interests include chemical education research, the scholarship of teaching and learning and macromolecules for industrial and biological applications.
“[Professor] Canelas shows up almost every day to [chemistry] lecture with balloons, metals or some other materials to let us actually, physically see the applications of what we’re learning in class,” wrote junior Kristina Schaufele in an email to The Chronicle. “She’s a chemistry teacher that has likely made every one of her students laugh aloud at one point.”
Shapiro, a social historian of the American South by training, now primarily teaches courses in South African history. Her courses explore issues related to “race, religion, coalition building, political strategies, nationalism and unfulfilled political and economic commitments,” topics she wrote she does not want to “shy away from.”
Shapiro shared that she strives to create “ever-evolving courses” that are thought-provoking and satisfying for students and that provide students with the opportunity to take ownership of their learning and explore their individual interests.
“I like students, I truly believe they have something to say and I’m curious to discover what that might be,” she wrote.
All current Duke faculty members who have taught an undergraduate course within the past four semesters are eligible to win the award. Faculty, staff, students and alumni were able to submit their nominations throughout April.
Shapiro described reading students’ letters of nomination as “a deeply moving gift” that “reminded [her] of why [she] love[s] to teach.”
Nominated faculty were then reviewed based on a rubric evaluating “their learning environment design, teaching, community and student outcomes.” Finalists were contacted in late June and submitted teaching portfolios by mid-September.
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Holly Keegan is a Trinity junior and a senior editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.