News & Events

News

Dr. James Miller receives one the University at Buffalo’s most prestigious annual honors, the Distinguished Alumni Award

Please join us in congratulating American Studies Professor James Miller, who has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Buffalo! This award is given in recognition of exceptional career accomplishments, community or university service, and research and scholarly activity.

Scott Larson Wins 2012 Philip Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award

American Studies PhD student Scott Larson has been named one of three university-wide recipients of the 2012 Philip Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.  Established in Spring 2004 to honor university alumnus and Trustee Emeritus Philip S. Amsterdam (BA '62), this award recognizes "individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to GW teaching," as well as "the important contribution the university's graduate students make to the educational process."

As a GTA, Scott is hugely committed to student learning. He devotes countless hours to explain complex course material and to help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. Scott effectively unpacks for his students some of the more difficult aspects of scholarly literature. When his students are confused by different historical interpretations, Scott often takes the creative approach of drawing charts that help students compare the perspectives of different authors as well as differences in historical conditions. Further, Scott’s shown extraordinary skill at developing student writing. He offers students invaluable, detailed written and oral comments on their work, pointing out not simply areas for improvement but also concrete steps to get there. One student wrote, “His feedback on graded papers has helped move my writing to the next level of sophistication and clarity.”

In winning the Philip Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, Scott joins Ramzi Fawaz, (PhD '12), a recipient of the 2011 award and Charity Fox (PhD '10), a recipient of the 2009 award. Two other recent alumnae received Honorable Mention for this award: Julie Passanante Elman (PhD '08), for the 2008 award; and Laurel Clark (PhD '08), for the inaugural award given in Spring 2004.

Ramzi Fawaz Wins 2011 Philip Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award

American Studies PhD student Ramzi Fawaz has been named one of three university-wide recipients of the 2011-2012 Philip Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.  Established in Spring 2004 to honor university alumnus and Trustee Emeritus Philip S. Amsterdam (BA '62), this award recognizes "individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to GW teaching," as well as "the important contribution the university's graduate students make to the educational process."
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Teresa Murphy Wins 2011 Trachtenberg Prize for University Service

American Studies Professor Teresa Murphy has been named one of two university-wide recipients of the 2011 Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prize for University Service! This prize was endowed by University President Emeritus Stephen Joel Trachtenberg to honor the memory of his parents and it is presented annually to tenured members of the faculty.
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