newsNotes insideTrack Carroll and Cunningham honored One is known as an inspiration to students inside and outside the classroom, and the other is called a “tireless mentor.” Linda Carroll, professor of Italian, and Michael Cunningham, associate professor of psychology, are this year’s recipients of Weiss Presidential Fellowships—the university’s highest honors for teaching undergraduates. Carroll and Cunningham received the awards at Tulane University Commencement in May. The fellowship recognizes exemplary teaching of undergraduate students and is named in honor of Suzanne and Stephen Weiss. The award includes a stipend of $5,000 a year for four years to support research activities of the faculty members, who will keep the designation of Weiss Fellow throughout their service at Tulane. The professors are nominated for the award, now in its second year, by students and then selected by a committee of faculty members and administrators. Criteria for being selected a Weiss Fellow are that the recipients must inspire and help students. Carroll is director and undergraduate adviser for the Italian studies program that she cofounded. She also established a series of Italian
courses taught in English that provide a foundation for understanding the Italian language. Carroll is an inspiration to students “inside and outside the classroom” with “an innate ability to make her students want to turn out first-rate work,” say her students. One student wrote that a Latin motto— “docere illuminare ducere” (to teach, to illuminate and to lead)—describes Carroll’s work. A scholar of Renaissance Venice, Carroll is a strong proponent of study abroad. “Perhaps the ultimate indicator of teaching effectiveness is the success of our students who embark on the Junior Year Abroad program in Florence, in which they enroll directly in the Universita di Firenze,” Carroll says. While Carroll looks abroad for expanding her students’ horizons, Cunningham turns to the local community. A faculty member extols Cunningham’s pioneering teaching that “served as the spark that ignited the servicelearning movement on Tulane’s campus.” In 1997, his first year at Tulane, Cunningham required students in his course on black youth to tutor students in a public elementary school. “I thought ‘let’s have students interact with black youth if they want to learn about black youth,’” Cunningham says. His philosophy is that “direct experience coupled with theory and basic science facilitates learning.” Cunningham is a “tireless mentor,” say
Linda Carroll and Michael Cunningham chat on the morning of commencement, shortly before they are presented with Weiss Presidential Fellowships.
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his students, who praise him for innovative classroom techniques and exceptional teaching ability. Cunningham has a joint appointment with the African and African Diaspora studies program. His primary research interests include adolescent development in diverse contexts. Specifically, he examines resilience and vulnerability in African American children and adolescents. —Fran Simon
Kudos to Clarkson and Murphy Dynamic, unusual and interactive strategies mark the teaching methods of Craig Clarkson, professor of pharmacology, and Laura Murphy, clinical associate professor of international health and development, recipients of the President’s Awards for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching. The awards, announced at Tulane University Commencement in May, were presented to the faculty members in recognition of their sustained and compelling record of excellence in teaching, learning and research. As recipients of the President’s Awards, Clarkson and Murphy received medals designed by the late Franklin Adams, professor emeritus of architecture, as well as $5,000. Clarkson, who has been the director of the medical pharmacology course in the School of Medicine for 10 years, says, “My approach is very student-oriented, or learner-centered, rather than teacher-centered. “Teaching is standing up in front of the room and explaining things. Learning—if it happens—is a whole different process. We’re trying different approaches all the time to try to enhance learning.” Clarkson uses attention-grabbing interactive technology such as a large database of online quizzes. “When students take a quiz and get an answer wrong, it will tell them why,” he says. Clarkson also has developed educational podcasts, a medical pharmacology course website, online self-study tools, a series of DVD instructional videos, and more. Several