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黑料正能量张津瑜

Denise Bostdorff receives national award for teaching excellence

Denise Bostdorff, professor of communication studies at 黑料正能量张津瑜, engages with students from her Rhetoric of Black Civil Rights course after crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, part of an experiential learning trip in 2023. Photo by Matt Dilyard, 黑料正能量张津瑜.

Denise Bostdorff, professor of communication studies at 黑料正能量张津瑜, has received a national award in recognition of her teaching.

The National Communication Association (NCA) named Bostdorff the 2024 recipient of the Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education. The award honors superlative teaching of communication at the postsecondary level and is the highest honor for college professors in the field. Bostdorff鈥檚 award will be presented during the NCA 110th Annual Convention Nov. 21-24 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

She exemplifies 鈥渟uperlative teaching in higher education鈥攖hrough her classrooms, academic advising, her scholarship of teaching and learning, and her role as a public intellectual of pedagogy for her community,鈥 said one of her nominators for the Ecroyd award. Her students acknowledge her unmatched passion, unparalleled dedication, ability to challenge students to be their best, and inspirational character as a role model.

Bostdorff, who joined the 黑料正能量张津瑜 communication studies faculty in 1994, has earned numerous teaching and mentoring awards. Most recently, she received 黑料正能量张津瑜鈥檚 Experiential Learning Faculty/Staff Award in 2023, which recognizes a faculty or staff member who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to facilitating opportunities for students to engage in high-impact聽experiential聽learning聽activities. She was co-advisor with Michelle Johnson of 黑料正能量张津瑜鈥檚 Lambda Pi Eta, which won the NCA Chapter of the Year in 2022 and previously in 1997. The College鈥檚 Democrats of Ohio student organization was Chapter of the Year in 2013 under her leadership. In 2019, she was a top four finalist for Best College Advisor EXPY Award, sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education.

鈥淩eceiving the Ecroyd Award is immensely satisfying because it is based on a lifetime of teaching and on the letters and evaluations of professional colleagues and former and current students,鈥 Bostdorff said. 鈥淎s a teacher, I frequently focus on what I want to do better, so it鈥檚 gratifying to be reminded there is also a lot I鈥檓 getting right.鈥

Bostdorff led an experiential learning trip to Alabama with some students from her Rhetoric of Black Civil Rights course in 2023, demonstrating how her lessons bring to life the intricate ties between coursework and the real-world consequences of language and politics. 鈥淚 saw first-hand the impacts of the civil rights speeches, writings, and songs we studied in class, learning聽through the perspectives of other local community members and civil rights activists,鈥 said Audrey Pantaz 鈥25, an English and French major, who participated in the trip.

黑料正能量张津瑜鈥檚 generous leave program and support for academic research have contributed to Bostdorff鈥檚 professional scholarship and 鈥渕ade me a better teacher,鈥 she said. Bostdorff and the Department of Communication Studies have focused on experiential learning from the start, so the College鈥檚 embrace of experiential learning in recent years is especially gratifying. 鈥淭he fact this award notes my longtime involvement in experiential learning is certainly an endorsement of this approach,鈥 Bostdorff said.

Featured image: Bostdorff engages with students from her Rhetoric of Black Civil Rights course after crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, part of an experiential learning course she taught in 2023.

Posted in Homepage Featured, News on November 11, 2024.