Seven honored with University Teaching Awards

Seven Northwestern faculty members are being honored with 2023 University Teaching Awards. The annual recognition is given to professors who demonstrate excellence and innovation in undergraduate teaching.

“Driven by a commitment to teach at the highest levels, this year’s University Teaching Award honorees have greatly enhanced our students’ learning experiences,” said Provost Kathleen Hagerty. “These awards recognize the impact of these efforts for our students as they prepare for success in dynamic fields of work.”

The recipients were nominated by the deans of the schools or colleges in which they have principal appointments. Honorees were selected by a committee chaired by the provost and made up of senior faculty members, University administrators, the President of the Alumnae of Northwestern University and a student representative.

The award includes a salary stipend for the next three years as well as funds for professional development. The term begins at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.

Scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, in Guild Lounge on the Evanston campus, the awards ceremony also will be livestreamed.

Ben Gorvine

Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Professor of Instruction

The driving force behind Ben Gorvine’s teaching is his commitment to supporting students’ “intellect and humanity,” his nomination states. Gorvine explains that, to him, “quality teaching is as much about making human connections with students as it is about specific content.” By combining rigorous content with authentic teacher-student and student-student relationships, he aims to foster meaningful, impactful learning experiences for students. His chair adds that “students appreciate how often they are applying the knowledge they have gained” and “emphasize the way he has engaged them intellectually and personally.”

Gorvine aims to create a classroom environment that fosters productive conversations, “allowing students to share their ideas openly and grapple honestly with the subject matter.” As a student writes, “Professor Gorvine expertly led us through a complex and emotionally charged topic with sensitivity and compassion. He created a safe and inclusive environment for all students to share their thoughts and feelings, and he encouraged us to think critically and empathetically” about the content. Gorvine frequently reminds students that “learning is a process not a product,” requiring time for rethinking and revision. His success in doing so is apparent in students’ comments that Gorvine creates a “community in his classroom” and a “culture of intellectual curiosity.” 

Gorvine is a professor of instruction in the department of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology from University of Michigan. Gorvine is also in his fifth year of serving as a faculty-in-residence for the southwest quadrant of campus.

Brent E. Huffman

The Alumnae of Northwestern Teaching Professor

Brent E. Huffman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a passionate professor of documentary filmmaking. Huffman aims to train “leaders in documentary journalism who will advance the medium creatively and responsibly,” his nomination states. His dean explains that Huffman’s pedagogy is “rooted in the conviction that a good documentary should hold up a mirror to society and prick the conscience of its viewers.” Huffman explains that he “challenges students to recognize their biases and strives to create work that minimizes subjectivity,” further elaborating that the role of a documentarian is to “produce studies that attempt to illuminate a subject or culture, not judge it through the lens of the filmmaker’s personal beliefs and background.” His students agree, as one writes, “Huffman’s teachings extend beyond merely a thorough grasp of technical equipment and narrative building, to encompass nuanced aspects of empathy, relationship-building and ethical storytelling.”

Huffman is enormously proud of his student’s achievements having won the industry’s highest awards and honors like Student Academy Awards and Emmys and by having student work published in prestigious outlets around the world including The New York Times, PBS, National Geographic, TIME and CNN.

Huffman says that his students “remain in my orbit long after they have taken my classes.” He supports a Medill documentary alumni community that provides current and former students access to an extensive network of support throughout their careers. As a former student states, Huffman “is constantly sharing his student’s successes and flagging new jobs and opportunities. He has helped so many students get their first job or internship, and never hesitates to share his contacts or offer advice.” 

Huffman is a professor of journalism in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. He received his master’s in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.

Daniel Immerwahr

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence 

Daniel Immerwahr’s approach to history centers on narratives. He explains that organizing facts into narratives enables “a way of seeing how this led to that.” Furthermore, rather than doing so in a way that only expands students’ “circles of knowledge,” Immerwahr aims to expand their “circles of caring,” too, so that they “emotionally connect with the past” and “see how the events of centuries past bear on their lives today,” his nomination states. His chair explains that Immerwahr “builds a set of explanations to try to answer the question: Why did the world come to be as it is? And he challenges students to come up with their own accounts.” 

Immerwahr’s students praise his engaging lectures. One writes, Immerwahr “has a gift for taking topics that might seem dull or inaccessible to non-experts…and crafting lively, entertaining stories that capture the complexity of scholarly debate with elegant simplicity.” His chair elaborates that Immerwahr “is as astute a listener as he is a talker, and what his seminars demonstrate are the rewards to be found in fostering discussion, in helping students to cultivate their own voices and learn how to talk to each other.” Another former student agrees: “In his classes, I always felt that I was a serious intellectual contributor; my thoughts were treated as important and worthwhile, and he pushed me to engage deeply with complicated questions.”

Immerwahr is the Bergen Evans Professor in the Humanities in the department of history in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Elizabeth Norton

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

Elizabeth Norton’s teaching and mentoring are driven by the motto “Do good and do good science,” her nomination states. As Norton explains, “my foremost goals for teaching are to inspire genuine curiosity and enthusiasm and to equip students with the knowledge, skills and confidence that enables them to do good (and good science).” She helps students “build a broad-based knowledge of the world in relation to language and brain development” and, at the same time, makes clear that by supporting each other and their own well-being, students can best “think, grow and do rigorous, important science.” Her chair elaborates that Norton is “a creative thinker, a stellar scientist and an outstanding teacher” who “is deeply committed to training students not just to acquire content, but to think and create for themselves.”

Norton’s research on individual differences and developmental disabilities informs her commitment to “supporting diverse learners and to representing diverse perspectives” in her courses. She cultivates an inclusive classroom environment in multiple ways, including the use of a variety of assignments and formats. As one former student states, “Throughout the years I worked with her, Dr. Norton continually reminded me that I was an intelligent student capable of making decisions, solving problems and conducting impactful science myself. She actively, and by example, fought my imposter syndrome with and for me every day.”

Norton is an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in the department of communication sciences and disorders in the School of Communication and by courtesy in medical social sciences in the Feinberg School of Medicine. She leads the Neurodevelopmental Core in the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci). She earned her Ph.D. in child study and human development from Tufts University. 

Aaron Peterson

Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Professor of Instruction

Aaron Peterson aims to create a vibrant mathematical community in his classes by “empowering students to reason through problems,” his nomination states. Peterson explains that “each of my courses tells a compelling mathematical story that frames learning objectives as aspects of a coherent and aesthetically pleasing system of ideas.” In this way, students are able to see course content as an “intellectual whole rather than a sequence of disparate topics.” This approach resonates strongly with Peterson’s students. One former student explains that Peterson helps students develop a complete understanding of the concepts at hand as they integrate new ideas into their existing frameworks.

Peterson is committed to developing an inclusive learning environment. He structures his classes and assignments to promote positive learning outcomes, sharing detailed and transparent notes with students, affirming that questions and mistakes are valuable, and including opportunities for both individual and group problem solving sessions. His chair states that Peterson “has a gift for explaining difficult mathematical concepts in ways that make mathematics accessible to all his students.” Peterson’s students share the importance of this approach in the development of their mathematical identities. One wrote that Peterson “established a space in which I knew my contributions and questions were valued,” while another emphasized that “through Peterson’s example, students learn how to create a safe atmosphere in which any and all questions can be asked.”

Peterson is an associate professor of instruction in the department of mathematics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Reuel Rogers

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence 

In his teaching, Reuel Rogers examines the racial injustices and political disparities Blacks and other people of color experience in the United States. As he explains, he guides students to use “empirical evidence and social science theory to identify progress, problems, and puzzles in [these groups’] quest for democratic representation and equality,” his nomination states. He prompts students to “engage with counterarguments …when they make empirical claims,” with the aim of challenging them to “cultivate a nuanced perspective on how power operates in the American political system to harness or hinder its multiracial democratic potential.” His chair notes that Rogers’ courses “challenge students to look boldly at issues that can be as uncomfortable as they are urgent.”

Rogers strives to foster a “shared intellectual journey” in his classes where both he and his students contribute knowledge, and occasionally experiences, relevant to these topics. His chair adds that “Rogers is an absolute master at creating space for candid discussion, where students feel both safe and challenged, gaining the theoretical tools and analytical skills they need to make sense of politics.” His students echo this sentiment. One writes, “I feel I am a greater citizen because of Rogers’ course, and I will be better equipped to [help] society reach a status of social justice in a way I wasn’t able to before.” Another student adds, “Professor Rogers has given me a better understanding of the African American experience, and thus a better understanding of myself.”

Rogers is an associate professor in the department of political science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, with courtesy appointments in African American studies and Latin American and Caribbean studies. He earned his Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University.   

Lilah Shapiro

Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Professor of Instruction

Across her teaching in the School of Education and Social Policy, Lilah Shapiro asks students to interrogate what “knowledge” is. In doing so, Shapiro encourages them to consider the ways that knowledge is socially derived and constructed, her nomination states. “By probing their own assumptions, identities and experiences,” Shapiro explains, “students examine how knowledge is built, how the source and type of knowledge interact with socio-political-cultural constructs, and how knowledge can be used to produce and/or perpetuate power and privilege or to empower those who are marginalized.” Students find that Shapiro’s classes ask them to consider their own and others’ perspectives in new ways. As one student writes, “Shapiro fundamentally changed the way I think about the world and my position in it.”

Shapiro is a frequent advisor for undergraduate student research and teaches the first course in the SESP Honors sequence. She believes that “having opportunities to participate in original research is an invaluable component of an undergraduate education, regardless of future career goals.” Her dean concurs and shares that Shapiro is an “extraordinary research mentor” able to blend “care and challenge” as she “fosters students’ development as scholars and as human beings.” Her students further echo this sentiment, praising Shapiro’s ability to “engage experienced students and empower students being exposed to independent research for the first time.”  

Shapiro is an associate professor of instruction in the School of Education and Social Policy. She received her Ph.D. in comparative human development from the University of Chicago.