York prof recipient of 1999 3M Teaching Fellowship

By Cathy Carlyle

Professor Linda Briskin of York's Division of Social Science was recently awarded a 3M Teaching Fellowship given by 3M and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. She is one of 10 recipients from Canadian universities. The award recognizes excellence in teaching and exceptional leadership and commitment to the improvement of university teaching across disciplines.

"I am honoured to receive this award," said Briskin. "I would like to recognize and appreciate all I have learned about teaching from both enthusiastic and resistant students."

She was cited for her "passion for teaching", a quality recognized by faculty, students and tutorial assistants. She was also praised for the "in-depth understanding of pedagogy that she has developed in her career as a university professor, high school teacher and college instructor. A main theme of her pedagogical work, says the citation, is power in the classroom. "This work on the dynamics of how power operates and how it can be negotiated in the classroom, particularly with reference to race, gender and sexual orientation, has earned Linda a national and international reputation."

Students speak highly of the way she helps them make personal sense of contemporary issues, challenges them to think critically and encourages them to reach their full potential. In student evaluations she earns ratings that are consistently above four on a five-point scale. Colleagues in her Foundations course, women and society, define her as a "fabulous teacher who organizes material beautifully and gives first-year students a sense of academic security that makes it possible for them to dramatically improve their performance."

In 1998 she received the Faculty of Arts Dean's Award for Teaching. Her 1990 publication, Feminist Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning Liberation, revised in 1994 and reprinted many times, is widely circulated.