Ann. S. Ferren Curriculum Design Award

Ann S. Ferren Curriculum Design Award recognizes the collaborative work of two or more faculty who creatively enable students to integrate their learning over the course of their undergraduate experience. Such innovative facilitation could be manifested in a variety of ways, such as deeper development of the learning outcomes of general education through the intentional design of an undergraduate major, problem-based course sequences calling for the application of inquiry methods from several disciplines, meaningful blending of experiential learning with classroom activity to promote intellectual and personal development, or designing capstone experiences through which students demonstrate synthesis of their undergraduate learning.

CTRL coordinates the award process. The $2,500 award is divided among the recipients.

The award winners are announced at the annual Ann Ferren Conference on Teaching, Research and Learning held in January.

Application Process

The deadline for applications for AY17-18 is November 15th, 2017.

To apply, please respond to the following questions and email your project description to Maria De Jesus at dejesus@american.edu. Please include the names, email addresses and phone extensions for each faculty member who worked on the alignment project. Your application will include:

  • A one-page executive summary of how the curriculum alignment and integration was accomplished
  • A document of up to four (4) double-spaced pages that includes:
    1. Summary of student learning outcomes that guided the curriculum alignment
    2. Specific examples of how courses incorporated and/or expanded upon General Education themes, concepts, and skills
    3. Information and examples of how the integration process was shared with both students and faculty
    4. Examples of such elements as assignments, readings, or exam questions used to assess learning outcomes that relate to alignment
    5. Summary of next steps to solidify or expand the alignment

Previous Award Winners

2016 Winners

Angie Chuang (School of Communication) and Andrea Malkin Brenner (CAS, Sociology)

Andrea Brenner and Angie Chuang are the twin forces that have created AUx, The American University Experience, a two-semester course sequence designed to help students navigate their academic, social, cultural, and psychological transition to university life. The sequence enables students to become members of a diverse community of learners. AUx further guides students to think about issues of bias, discrimination and social identity from a multidisciplinary perspective. Under Andrea and Anglie’s skilled leadership, the AUx program continues in its pilot phase and by Fall 2018 will impact the education of every undergraduate entering AU. Thank you, Angie and Andrea, for your incredibly important work.

2015 Winners

A team of faculty from the Kogod School of Business:
Professors William Bellows, Melissa Bradley, Richard Linowes, Jay Pope, Robert Sicina, and Tommy White 

Collectively, they are recognized for their work with the Kogod Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative, which was launched in 2014.This interdisciplinary initiative integrates a broad range of majors (not just in business) with the creative problem-solving skills of entrepreneurship. Courses in the program build on the broad spectrum of General Education goals, including strong communication skills, critical analysis skills, quantitative literacy and symbolic reasoning skills, and an awareness of new and different ways of thinking and understanding issues in our ever-changing world.

2014 Winners

A team of faculty from the School of International Service:
Professors Rose Shinko, Patrick Jackson and Betsy Cohn

2013 Winners

A team of faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Environmental Science:
Professors Kiho Kim, Sara Lombardi, Jesse Meiller and Stephen MacAvoy