The Jean Brierley Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2020
Classics, Humanities, and Italian Studies
Scott Smith’s transformative teaching is firmly grounded in and inspired by his own experiences as a student who has never stopped learning. With his constant intellectual curiosity and irrepressible love for taking on new challenges, he brings a learner’s eye to every course he teaches as a professor of classics, humanities and Italian studies, and it’s no wonder that the result is a dizzyingly varied teaching portfolio and a commitment to continual evolution and improvement.
But no matter what the course is — and he’s taught on the Durham campus, online and abroad; in small seminars and in some of UNH’s largest lectures; covering a vast range of material about the ancient worlds of the Greeks and Romans, from languages to literature to drama to archaeology to history to myth — Professor Smith’s underlying goal is not to make sure that students learn every single detail of content so much as it is to help them discover the true joy that comes from serious thinking, deep learning and challenging oneself intellectually.
In essence, he offers a standing bargain: whatever students need to do their best, he will give them, no matter how much time and effort it requires on his part. The sincerity of his offer and the methods he employs to make it a reality are obvious from the results. It’s no coincidence that during his two decades at UNH his students have regularly described him as “amazing,” “incredible,” “inspirational,” and “the best,” among myriad other superlatives. It is a suitable honor indeed to recognize him with the university’s 2020 Jean Brierley Award for Excellence in Teaching.
About this Award
The Jean Brierley Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes excellence in teaching by a faculty member over the course of a long-term distinguished career at UNH. A bequest from the estate of Jean Brierley, Class of 1930, established this award. Professor Brierley established the endowed fund in 1973 to recognize teaching in any field or discipline at UNH. The recipient will give a presentation at an annual event sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to help celebrate and promote good teaching. UNH benefits-eligible faculty members are eligible, except those who have received this award within the last five years.
