The Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

The Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award recognizes faculty who have made a significant contribution to research-based analyses of teaching practices or of curricular design. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is a movement in post-secondary education that promotes systematic analysis of the practice of teaching along with application of research-based approaches to instruction and curricular design.

Milton and Sonia Greenberg

Milton and Sonia Greenberg
  • Eligbility

    Any faculty member (including tenured, tenure-track, term, and adjunct faculty) teaching during the current academic year is eligible for nomination. Self-nominations are welcome. Both individual faculty members and teams of faculty members may be nominated.

  • Terms of Award

    The winning faculty member (or faculty team) will receive an award of $3,000 in the form of a stipend. The winner will be invited to present his or her work at a CTRL event.

  • Selection Process

    Nominations may be made by any member of the AU faculty. The selection panel will be composed of the Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs (or designee), the Executive Director of CTRL, and a previous winner of the award.

  • Timeline

    Nominations open: January 2022
    Final date to submit nominations: April 30, 2022
    Announcement of winner: May 2022

  • Nominations

    The application window for the 2021-2022 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning will open January 2022.

Previous Award Winners

2020-2021

The 2020-2021 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Sherri Williams (School of Communication).

This award recognizes Dr. Williams for the systematic analysis and publication of her work with the Black on Campus project, a national project that Dr. Williams co-founded and co-directs locally with students at AU. Dr. Williams studied the program and its impact on students and published her research in the Journal of Mass Communication in an article titled, “Lived Experience and Living History: A Case Study of the Black on Campus Student Journalism Project.” Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at American University whose work focuses on how marginalized groups, especially women of color, are portrayed in the media.

2019-2020

The 2019-2020 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Luis Cerezo-Ceballos (CAS – World Languages and Cultures).

Luis Cerezo-Ceballos was selected for his research in the areas of additional language learning and translation and interpreting pedagogy. Luis conducted systematic analysis of how students with different learning profiles can maximize the acquisition of an additional language through the use of videogames, computer-mediated communication, and hybrid and online curricula premised on instructional approaches such as guided induction, metacognitive instruction, and vicarious learning. He also studied the most effective ways to train professional translators and interpreters, investigating the effectiveness of student collaboration on learning and performance.

2018-2019

The 2018-2019 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was split between Professors Benjamin Stokes (School of Communication) and Paul Wapner (School of International Service).

Benjamin Stokes was selected for his for his application of research-based approaches to instruction. His unique community-embedded curricular innovations are at the intersection of two of American University’s strategic priority areas, metropolitan studies and game design. In his classes, his students design and develop original games and activities that embed media within community locations like bus stops and then use these games to reflect on real world city challenges such as gentrification and race relations. Students directly benefit not only from excellent experiential learning opportunities, but also from funding from the Knight Foundation which provided Professor Stokes with a grant to study how cities are using games to engage its citizens.

Paul Wapner was selected for his work to understand the causes of environmental harm and how the world can build a sustainable future. In doing so, he has developed unique ways to invite students into Global Environmental Politics as a domain of inquiry. In particular, Paul has integrated contemplative practices into the learning process, by recognizing that global environmental issues are not simply technical, political, and economic problems, but also existential challenges. Over the years, he has introduced and written on the benefits of various elements of contemplative practice into the classroom, including meditation, journaling, yoga, personal check-ins, and deep, textual study

2017-2018

The 2017-2018 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching Learning Award was split between Professors Joanne Allen (Department of Art, CAS) and John Sullivan (Division of Journalism, School of Communication).

We recognize Joanne Allen because of her innovative and unique approach to teaching art history. Her students learn experientially about architecture, using DC as a laboratory to research historical architectural styles and understand how the visual, spatial, and aural effects of a building influence a visitor or patron’s experience. Students present the findings of their research before and within the structures that they researched. This experiential approach is particularly important in the study of architecture, because it more readily engages students than the traditional means of projecting images in the classroom. In addition, Joanne’s efforts to implement active learning in the arena of art history directly connects her pedagogy to the strategy central to the new AU Core Curriculum.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and professor John Sullivan has transformed American University’s journalism education into one of the country’s most innovative and influential teaching and learning environments for aspiring journalists. John’s joint appointment as an Investigative Journalist-in-Residence and an investigative reporter at the Washington Post enables him to bring his journalistic experience and investigative research expertise into the classroom in a unique way. This is particularly impactful in the Investigative Reporting Practicum, which is designed to immerse journalism graduate students in real-world investigative research in order to prepare them for successful careers as investigative journalists. John has contributed significantly to advancing the practice of investigative journalism in an era in which economic and digital challenges to traditional business models are straining newsrooms, while enabling his students to gain invaluable experience leading to prestigious and meaningful jobs.

Etc.

2016

The 2016 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching Learning Award was given to Cindy Bair Van Dam (CAS, Department of Literature).

In her roles as Chair of the university’s General Education Committee and co-chair of the Reimagining General Education Task Force, Cindy Bair Van Dam has spearheaded development of a new AU Core curriculum that encourages students to engage with complexity, value diversity and understand change. From their first exposure to the new Complex Problems and AU Experience courses, through to their capstone experiences, future AU students will benefit from Cindy’s vision, persistence, and commitment to the ideals of twenty first-century liberal education. General Education reform is notably one of the hardest efforts a university can undertake. Without Cindy’s exceptional leadership, the new AU Core would, quite simply, never have happened.

2015

The 2015 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Betsy Cohn (School of International Service).

Since 2013, Betsy has served as SIS Faculty Coordinator for Teaching and Student Learning. Her expertise continues to be enriched by involvement with professional teaching conferences and knowledge of the current pedagogical literature. Betsy has also been most generous in sharing her insights about higher education with the larger university community, by regularly leading sessions at the CTRL August Workshops, the Ann Ferren Conference, and Noontime Conversations, and by mentoring students in the Greenberg PhD Seminars for Effective Teaching.

2014

The 2014 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Brigid Maher (School of Communication).

Professor Maher was recognized for her contributions over several years in researching and designing an online course curriculum for the School of Communication’s Graduate Certificate in Digital Media. Her integration of the theories behind new methods of conveying information into the design of these courses have had a fundamental impact on the students in the program, both in the short run, by providing cutting-edge digital skills training, and in the long run, by opening new career paths, and it is our pleasure to recognize Brigid Maher for these accomplishments.

2013

The 2013 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Teresa Larkin (CAS, Department of Physics).

Professor Larkin was selected for her research on writing-based pedagogical methods and learning-style assessments in the STEM classroom, as well as assessment of active-learning technologies inside and outside the STEM classroom.

2012

The 2012 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to professor Ivy Broder (CAS, Department of Economics).

Professor Broder was selected for designing an online curriculum for her course on Economics of World Regions. The course, which was created for students in the university’s AU Abroad Program, incorporates students’ first-hand experiences and research via an online discussion board.

2011

The 2011 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Derrick Cogburn (School of International Service).

Professor Coburn won because of the integration of his study of cyber-learning and his teaching as integral parts of his curriculum design and implementation, while designing, implementing and evaluating cyber-learning for students with disabilities.