Good teaching happens when there are people who want to learn on both sides
by Judy Riley, UMM News Service -- Pieranna Garavaso, professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, Morris, is the recipient of the 2003 UMM Alumni Association Teaching Award. Thanks to the generosity of the UMM Alumni Association, the Morris campus recognizes its professors for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate education through this annual award, first given in 1997.
"I feel very honored and also humbled by receiving this award because I know that there are many excellent teachers and mentors at UMM who do not get to be recognized as they deserve," said Garavaso.
"Good teaching happens when there are people who want to learn on both sides," continued Garavaso. "I have been fortunate to be in contact with a great number of very exciting students and very inspiring colleagues."
Some of Garavaso's students were among those who nominated her for the award.
Former student, Dr. Kevin C. Klement, assistant professor of philosophy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said: "I cannot think of a single instructor whom I try more to emulate. Because students generally come to college with no training in logic and many struggle with its most simple and basic concepts, logic instructors find themselves having to find a way to reach students whose standpoint is almost entirely alien. Pieranna is able to reach these students in almost every case due to her endless patience and sympathy."
A UMM graduate and now a teacher, Jana Hilleren Garcia, added: "Pieranna possessed the ability to challenge and engage students. Her students were active learners."
"I teach because I enjoy learning, and the best way to continue to learn is to be challenged by what students coming from different backgrounds, with different life experiences and individual learning styles bring to the classroom," said Garavaso.
A member of the philosophy faculty at UMM since 1991, Garavaso earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in philosophy, with honors, from the University of Padova (Italy). She holds a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She is a highly respected member of the UMM community and the Morris area as well. She has been elected to the Campus Consultative Committee for many terms. Her enthusiasm, dedication to the liberal arts educational experience, and the respect of those communities place her in leadership positions. In particular, from 2000 to the present, Garavaso has headed UMM's newest major, women's studies, and has served as assistant to the chair of the Division of the Humanities since 2001.
In summary, says her nomination for the award, "Dr. Garavaso is an outstanding educator, researcher, and supporter of the UMM community. She has had an extraordinary impact on UMM's students, faculty, staff and administration. She helps her students build their confidence and leads them to success using innovative techniques and tools - all of this without compromising her extremely high level of expectations. In addition, no UMM faculty is better at integrating research and teaching."
In addition to a cash award and a stipend given to the philosophy discipline, Garavaso will be the speaker at this year's Student Honors and Awards Ceremony, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, May 9, in Recital Hall of Humanities Fine Arts at UMM.
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Last Modified Tuesday, February 01, 2005
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