WATE PGR Cross Faculty winners
About the Postgraduates who teach award
We celebrate the exceptional work of colleagues at a very early stage in their academic career. In addition to the Faculty-based award winners we also recognise educators who work across Faculty boundaries supporting university-wide projects or by working in interdisciplinary ways.
Winner - Nick Cherryman (Sociology)
My teaching philosophy engages with the queer art of failure and the vulnerability that admitting ‘failure’ can bring to the classroom space. By reflecting on my own ‘failings’ as teachable moments, students feel empowered to engage with their own ‘failings’ in productive and constructive ways. This shift from powerlessness to powerful fuels the intellectual growth that my students feel, and empowers them to make their own decisions in the teaching space. This, ultimately, allows them to carry what they have learned in class to their world outside of the classroom and make themselves agents in their own learning.
About Nick
Nick (they/them) is a queer scholar, who researches drag performance, gender, and queer theory. They have taught on the Active Bystander Course for several years. They are also drag performer Ibi Profane, and their research involves performing in drag.
Commended - Zoi Ioannidou (Life Sciences)
My teaching philosophy revolves around putting students first, facilitating and centring them in their learning process. I also try to be inclusive and provide equitable opportunities. My driving force for teaching, is that I treat it as a great learning opportunity it for myself as well. I also aim to constantly reflect on my teaching pedagogies, and further improve myself by undertaking continuing training. I have a challenging role of being involved in teaching mainly interdisciplinary modules, and I utilise my own experiences, as an interdisciplinary researcher, in trying to make students feel comfortable in a new unfamiliar space.