The School of Social Sciences is home to a group of faculty members who constantly commit themselves to achieving excellence in the areas of research and teaching. In particular, we would like to extend our warmest congratulations to the following SOSS faculty members who have recently received an award for their work.
Associate Professor Forrest Zhang has recently been awarded the Bernstein & Byres Prize in Agrarian Change 2015, which is reserved for the best paper published in the Journal of Agrarian Change for any one year. To win this coveted prize, papers are judged on their quality as works of political economy, their analytical power, their originality, and the quality of evidence presented and its deployment. His paper titled “Class Differentiation in Rural China: Dynamics of Accumulation, Commodification and State Intervention” was unanimously voted by all members of the judging panel as the most deserving paper for 2015.
Associate Professor Christie Scollon is the proud recipient of the SMU Innovative Teacher Award 2016, which recognises faculty members who make significant contributions to promoting new ways of teaching that have an impact on enhancing learning. Christie was lauded for uniting science, society and education to transform students’ learning and cultivating their creativity. She effectively used active learning and experiential learning (through SMU-X), live drawings, podcasts and the jigsaw method to engage and help students learn. She is also an active contributor to the scholarship of teaching and learning through pedagogical publications, teaching conferences, and involvement in curriculum and professional committees.
Assistant Professor Jacob Ricks is the proud recipient of the SMU Most Promising Teacher Award 2016, which recognises outstanding teaching potential among junior faculty members, particularly in the area of providing an enriching classroom experience for students. Jake was recognised for effectively developing students’ writing and research skills through response papers and research proposals, providing reading questions, crossword puzzles, research design guidelines and detailed grading rubrics to help students succeed in the course, and engaging in peer observation for continuous professional development.