Stuart Tave Course Design Awards
The Stuart Tave Course Design Award recognizes up to three graduate students who have demonstrated exemplary course design. The award is intended to foster a culture of course design excellence among graduate teaching assistants and instructors.
Each department may nominate one student for the award. Please submit the dossier to the Dean of Students Office at ahd-dos@uchicago.edu no later than TBD (will be updated for 2027).
All current doctoral students whose home department is in AHD and have demonstrated excellent course design prior to Winter 2027 are eligible for nomination. Students who have been nominated previously can be nominated again; however past award recipients will be ineligible for nomination.
The 2027 awardee(s) will receive a cash award of $1,500, a certificate, and will be recognized at the Arts & Humanities Division Spring Convocation on TBD at Rockefeller Chapel.
Examples of course design excellence recognized by the Stuart Tave Course Design Award can include, but are not limited to:
- Courses designed by the graduate student reflecting their intellectual interests, but not mirroring dissertation research
- Courses that are designed in a way to create an engaging and interesting environment for students taking the course
- Courses that have syllabi which are innovative, creative, and inclusive in their course design
Complete nomination packets should be emailed as a pdf attachment to ahd-dos@uchicago.edu. Nominations may be submitted by the student's faculty advisor, and should describe the qualities of course design that make them an excellent candidate. Nomination packages must include:
- The student's current CV.
- The self-designed course syllabus, including a course description and articulation of learning goals.
- A one-page letter of recommendation from a member of the faculty related to the student's ability to design a course.
- A one-page letter from the Department Chair giving their written endorsement of the department nominee.
The committee for Stuart Tave Course Design Awards will review all nominations. The committee includes the Master of the Arts & Humanities Collegiate Division, the Deputy Dean(s) of the Division of the Arts & Humanities, and the Dean of Students of the Division of the Arts & Humanities.
2026 - Jessie Alperin (ARTH/Committee on Social Thought)
2026 - Joseph Harris (MES)
2026 - Ye Ram Esther Kim (RLL/CMPLT)
2025 - Ronit Ghosh (MUSI/SALC)
2025 - Mary Kemp Thornberry (ENGL)
2024 - Alice Casalini (ARTH)
2024 - Tobias Scheunchen (NELC)
2023 - Catrin Dowd (MUSI)
2023 - Sam Gray (LING)
2023 - Rivky Mondal (ENGL)