Four faculty members honored for post-baccalaureate teaching

Since 1995, UNC-Chapel Hill has recognized the importance of post-baccalaureate teaching with the Distinguished Teaching Awards for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction. Each of the four winners receives a one-time stipend of $5,000 and a framed citation.

Here are their responses to questions about their inspirations and creativity in teaching.

Sarah Dempsey

College of Arts and Sciences’ communication department

Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?

My Master of Arts adviser, Mark Orbe, is an outstanding teacher and mentor. He models warmth and connection and is incredibly funny and energizing in the classroom. He taught me about how important it is to support and mentor the whole person and how to be an advocate for your students.

What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?

I situate academic theoretical texts and traditions within contemporary artifacts and practices by bringing in popular culture and creative works (poetry, images and texts, photography, art, documentary). This allows us to access ideas in a different way, brings additional voices and perspectives into conversation with one another and prompts new insights.

Casey Rawson

School of Information and Library Science

Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?

Among the very best is my grandmother, Geraldine Bowles, an elementary school teacher who inspired me to pursue teaching as a career. Nanny taught me that being a good teacher requires kindness and compassion. At 88, she has never stopped being willing to learn new things and change her mind.

What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?

I ask my students to give me three to four songs that always make them happy. I make a playlist to listen to before class and during breaks. It builds community and encourages a sense of exploration and play. And I can make pop culture references that aren’t all from the ’90s!

Amanda Reid

Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?

Two are Marilyn Young (Florida State University) and Bill Chamberlin (University of Florida), lifelong mentors and friends as I transitioned from graduate student to faculty. They have been terrific role models for how I engage with my own students both inside the classroom and as a mentor.

What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?

In my media law course, I have students apply a simple, straightforward “law” to half a dozen hypothetical scenarios. This activity opens students’ eyes, and the “aha moment” is gratifying. I then post the students’ work on my office door to show that I value their effort and to help them find my office.

Erianne Weight

College of Arts and Sciences’ exercise and sport science department

Who is the best teacher you’ve had and why?

The best teacher I’ve ever had was also my first — my mother. Whenever there was time, we would play school together — as we cleaned, ran errands or exercised. She turned everything we did into an educational game. Her love of learning, creativity in pedagogy, and passion for excellence inspires me every day.

What’s something creative you’ve done to engage your students?

On a beautiful early spring day, we started class with some traditional instruction on sampling methodologies, then paired off to discuss on a walk around Gimghoul, switching pairs every five minutes. It was an invigorating example of some research I had done that demonstrated walking can improve student learning and retention.