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 Elena Leonenko, Slavic Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2026 Learning Russian at the basic and intermediate levels can be particularly challenging for English-speaking students due to the heavy emphasis on mastering complex grammar structures. Although vocabulary development and engaging activities such as songs, poems, and games are incorporated…
By Sherine Ebadi, Geography Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2026 Teaching Global Studies, I emphasize developing students’ critical thinking, reading, and writing skills as primary learning objectives of the section. However, my own experiences in academia have taught me that struggling with these skills cannot merely be explained by…
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…