Editor of Stabroek News’ ‘In the Diaspora’ column Dr Alissa Trotz has been conferred with the President’s Teaching Award by the University of Toronto, where she is an Associate Professor in the Women & Gender Studies Institute and Caribbean Studies Program, Faculty of Arts & Science.
According to an announcement on the university’s website, the President’s Teaching Award is the highest honour for teaching at the University of Toronto. President’s Teaching Award winners receive an annual professional development allowance of $10,000 for five years. Recipients of a President’s Teaching Award are also designated by the university as a member of the Teaching Academy for a minimum period of five years; those wishing to continue participation in the Academy after this term may elect to do so.
“Members of the Teaching Academy meet regularly as a body to discuss matters relevant to teaching in the university, offer advice to the Vice President and Provost and the Director of the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI), assist in the assessment of teaching when required and function as advocates for excellence in teaching within and without the university,” the announcement said.
It said too that members of the Teaching Academy have also been asked to participate in a range of university events, including addressing Convocation, delivering public lectures, participating in conferences and new faculty orientations, or facilitating teaching and learning workshops.
“The Teaching Academy is committed to university-wide advocacy for teaching and learning based on their involvement in a range of yearly initiatives. The goal of the Teaching Academy is contribute to the advancement of teaching at the university and reflect the wide range of excellent teaching styles and approaches,” the announcement said.
Dr Trotz is one of three recipients of the award this year. The other two are Dr Christopher Perumalla, a senior lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dr Larry Sawchuk of the Department of Anthropology.
Trotz who joined the University of Toronto in 2000 is described by her students as an inspiring and dedicated teacher who excels at both the large lecture format and the small seminar. She previously received the Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award (2010), the Award for distinguished contribution to graduate teaching at OISE (2007) and the SAC-APUS Undergraduate Teaching Award (2007).
According to her profile on the university’s website, Trotz was responsible for the transformation of the flagship introductory Women and Gender Studies course, securing a MacGraw-Hill Instructional Grant to integrate technology into the course. “With her co-instructor and the Writing Instruction for Teaching Assistants Program, she developed a detailed tutorial manual for the course that significantly enhances students’ small group experience. As Director of the Caribbean Studies Program (2006-2012), [she] proposed new joint courses with a number of programs, and was a key organiser of ‘South-South Encounters,’ a year of innovative programming across Caribbean, South Asian a
nd African Studies. She was also a founding member of the Black Faculty Group that organized a cross-faculty conference, Teaching for Our Times, out of which came the proposal to establish a Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies….”
