Graduate TAs given 2024 Tanner Awards
For excellence in teaching undergraduate students, each teaching assistant receives a $5,000 stipend.
In 1990, the University expanded the purview of the Tanner Awards to recognize excellence in the teaching of undergraduates by graduate teaching assistants. Each of the winners receives a one-time stipend of $5,000 and a framed citation.
Ling Beisecker
College of Arts and Sciences’ exercise and sport science department
Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?
Thank you to all the excellent teachers who shaped my love of learning! Special thanks to Dr. Joanna Schug for igniting my passion for social psychology, a foundation for sport and exercise psychology. Her engaging teaching and genuine interest in students sparked my journey as a researcher and teacher.
What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?
During my second year at Carolina, I had the opportunity to meet Viji Sathy and Kelly Hogan and read their book about inclusive teaching. One impactful change I implemented based on their work was the incorporation of name cards, ensuring that I could learn and actively engage with each student.
Courtney Blackington
College of Arts and Sciences’ political science department
Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?
I had many excellent teachers at the College of William and Mary. Professors like Clay Clemens, Amy Oakes, Joel Schwartz, Dennis Smith, Ron Rapoport and Maurits van der Veen modelled how to support undergraduate research. Paula Pickering sparked interest in my research agenda and supported me at several critical moments.
What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?
One simulation that my students enjoy teaches them about the persistence of authoritarian regimes. By playing roles in an authoritarian regime, students learn, in an engaging way, what strategies autocrats use to maintain power, why many people do not challenge an autocrat, and what barriers to collective action exist.
Karah Mitchell
College of Arts and Sciences’ English and comparative literature department
Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?
It is literally impossible for me to name just one teacher…. I tried and tried to think this over, and it just didn’t feel right since the teachers I describe all have made a huge impact on my life.
What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?
For English 144: Popular Genres: Animals and Literature, I brought in a toy lamb that plays “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I wanted to get students to remember how animals featured in their own experiences before we discussed the importance of analyzing why animals so often feature in children’s literature.
Emanuele Stefanori
College of Arts and Sciences’ Romance studies department
Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?
All the professors I met here are not just amazing scholars but also exceptional human beings. I would like to thank all of them, as everyone inspired me in a different way. I’m particularly grateful to professor Amy Chambless for her kindness, patience and help in the Romance studies department.
What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?
My teaching is heavily based on game-playing and fun activities. I love to create something new and engaging for every class. To learn the vocabulary of food, students record themselves cooking their favorite recipe. Seeing my students having fun while learning Italian is the most rewarding thing for me!
