Sheedy Teaching Award
The Sheedy Excellence in Teaching Award is presented annually to an outstanding teacher in the College of Arts and Letters.
The Sheedy award was founded in 1970 in honor of Rev. Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C., who served as dean of the College from 1951–69, and acknowledges a faculty member who has sustained excellence in research and instruction over a wide range of courses. This individual must also motivate and enrich students using innovative and creative teaching methods and influence teaching and learning within the department, College, and University.
2012 Award Recipient
Professor Peter Holland
Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
The award will be formally presented at a ceremony on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, at 3:30 p.m. in McKenna Hall.
2011 Award Recipient
Professor Thomas F.X. Noble
Department of History
“For as long as I can remember, I have had a voracious curiosity. At some level, almost everything interests me. I believe that the capacity to be curious about a wide array of subjects has helped me to be curious about the different students I have encountered, to be open to them, to be interested in them. I have also found ways, more or less subtle depending on circumstances, to mix preparation and curiosity in such a way as to draw students into my world, my subject, my passions, my interests.”
Read more of his acceptance speech >
Faculty profile >
2010 Award Recipient
Professor James Collins
Department of Film, Television, and Theatre
“All of [my] teaching experiences gave me insights I would have never otherwise acquired if I hadn’t tried to enrich the conversations I have with my undergraduates. They made me a better teacher because, quite simply, I became a better learner. Being a student of teaching means you have to remain constantly open to how other teachers practice their crafts. One of the most important things I’ve learned about teaching is how to make what seems to be simple far more complicated than it might appear but also how to take what seems overwhelmingly complex and show how simple it can be if you ask the right questions.”
Read more of his acceptance speech >
Faculty profile >
2009 Award Recipient
Associate Professor Richard Pierce
Africana Studies
“It is so very easy to teach facts, formulas, and method, but it is so much more difficult to teach students to be creative. So often creativity is defined and marked by performance: a virtuoso musical performance, a new twist to an old painting style, or an athlete who brings beauty to an old form. But academics can also be creative. It’s the marriage of knowledge, insight, and courage.”
Read more of his acceptance speech >
Faculty profile >
To view a list of additional former recipients of the Sheedy Excellence in Teaching Award as well as a selection of past acceptance speeches, visit the Award Recipients page.
Arts and Letters News
History Major Explores Work of Missionaries in Colonial Peru
It is widely known that Spanish missionaries played a significant role in introducing Catholicism to the peoples of the Andes throughout the colonial period. Notre Dame senior history major Joseph VanderZee traveled to archives in Lima and Rome to dig a little deeper and find out what these early missionaries thought of the indigenous population—and how their attitudes affected the development of the Peruvian Church. Read More >
Theologian Gary Anderson Elected to American Academy of Jewish Research
Gary Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research (AAJR). The AAJR is the oldest organization of Judaic scholars in North America, and fellows are nominated and elected by their peers. The group has approximately 100 members in the United States—and Anderson is one of a select few who are not Jewish. Read More >
Solving a Fascinating Puzzle
Robert Goulding, an associate professor in the University of Notre Dame’s Program of Liberal Studies, was recently awarded a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to support a research project that combines mathematics, philosophy, and Renaissance science. Goulding, who also teaches in the History and Philosophy of Science graduate program, says his work focuses on English scientist and mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560–1621), whom he calls “a really unusual figure” in intellectual history. Read More >
Microfinance Yields Mixed Results in Thailand, Economist Joseph Kaboski Finds
Large-scale microfinance programs are widely used as a tool to fight poverty in developing countries, but a recent study by University of Notre Dame economist Joseph Kaboski and MIT colleague Robert Townsend suggests that microfinancing can have varying results for participants and may not be the most cost-effective use of funds for many situations. The study was published in a recent issue of Econometrica. Kaboski and Townsend used the Thai Million Baht Village Fund, one of the largest government microfinance initiatives of its kind, to evaluate and understand the benefits and disadvantages of microfinance interventions. Read More >
