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Professor, Architecture, Planning, and Urban Design |
Nezar Alsayyad, Professor in the Departments of Architecture and City and Regional Planning as well as Chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, has taught at Berkeley since 1985. In addition to being a teacher and scholar, he is a practicing architect and the founder of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, among a seemingly endless list of accomplishments. A typical comment comes from former student, who says, “I can certainly say that Nezar’s influence on my life is unmatched. He is a mentor, colleague, and friend. He has shown me how research, creative practice, teaching, and service can be integrated in a way that captivates students, expands the field, and engages the broader public.” The Committee noted that Alsayyad is the model of a public intellectual whose list of achievements is spectacular, and who is “always teaching. “He provides unfaltering support to his students by being very generous with his time, his wisdom, and his expertise,” says another former student. Committee members noted both his passion and his joy in his teaching.
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Associate Professor, French and Comparative Literature |
Karl Ashoka Britto, Associate Professor in French and Comparative Literature, is a leader in the emerging field of Francophone literary studies. A member of the Berkeley faculty since 1996, Britto teaches a wide range of classes: “Gender, Culture, and Identity in Francophone Literature,” “Murder in Literature,” and “Reading and Writing Skills in French,” to name a few. “This course,” writes an undergraduate, “has been truly amazing. Professor Britto has vast knowledge of the subject and he put the literature in interesting and relevant perspectives that I would never have thought of. I loved this class.” The Committee was particularly impressed by Britto’s mentorship of graduate students and his long-term commitment to their progress, as well as by his contributions to his department and to the campus. Pairs of qualities—compassion and generosity, command and rigor—form a theme in students’ comments. The Committee also noted Britto’s abilities not only to advance his field on campus but also to cultivate in his students the exactitude that the field merits. “His seminar,” says a student on an evaluation, “is a weekly reminder of the reasons I chose to pursue graduate studies in literature: invigorating, thoughtful, challenging.”
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Assistant Professor, Economics |
Stefano DellaVigna, Assistant Professor in Economics who specializes in behavioral economics came to Berkeley in 2002. Among the courses he teaches are “Microeconomic Theory” and “Applications of Psychology and Economics.” Economics Chair Benjamin Hermalin points out that DellaVigna has already published seminal papers in his field and “has been a force in the classroom since his arrival at Berkeley”; the Committee agreed, and also noted DellaVigna’s contributions to teaching outside the classroom, mentoring significant numbers of graduates and undergraduates and involving many in his research projects. “Wow,” says one undergraduate, “Professor DellaVigna is the reason why I want to change from engineering to economics. He is a passionate, eloquent lecturer.” And a student in a graduate seminar comments, “Stefano, as you know, is a giant in the classroom. This is because he cares about the success of his students, and he has ZERO ARROGANCE.” The Committee also commends DellaVigna for his commitment to mentoring the exceptionally large number of students he has already taken on in the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program.
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Class of 1940 Professor of Rhetoric and Film Studies
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Kaja Silverman, The Class of 1940 Professor of Rhetoric and Film Studies, has been at Berkeley since 1991, and co-founded the Program in Film Studies in 1996. One of the foremost intellectuals in the humanities in the United States, Silverman teaches a wide range of courses from the basic Rhetoric 20 lecture to seminars on more advanced topics, such as “The Hollywood ‘Woman’s Film,’” “National Identity and Cinematic Representation,” and others. The Committee on Teaching noted the large number of in-depth, extensive, and eloquent comments by students in their evaluations of Silverman: “The connecting thread between each new text and lecture was so strong and linear that the final movie was a perfect way to end the class. This class had a point,” said one. And another wrote, “I am walking away from the course with more knowledge, but also new perspectives on myself and the world.” The Committee praised Silverman for developing in students sheer joy and awe at their own ability for extremely complex thinking. That Silverman is “clearly a transformative teacher” was the general consensus of the Committee.
In addition, the Committee has selected the Biology Scholars Program and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Undergraduate Apprenticeship Program as the recipients of the 2008 Educational Initiatives Award.