By José Eduardo Valdivia Heredia, Ethnic Studies Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2026 A recurring challenge in interdisciplinary classrooms is the gap between abstract theoretical frameworks and students’ capacity to engage them concretely. In my sections for Introduction to Gender & Women’s Studies, I observed that students could often…
By Angelica Remache Lopez, Political Science Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2026 Few topics arrive in the classroom carrying as much weight as immigration. When I became a GSI for “The Politics of Immigration,” I knew the subject would resonate with students, but I did not fully anticipate how…
By Keren Zou, History Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2025 While teaching the history of American westward expansion, I asked my students whether they were familiar with the term Californio, referring to a group of mixed-heritage people of Spanish, Mexican, and Indigenous descent who lived…