Consistently recognized for creating an encouraging class environment, history professor Dr. Janay Nugent (BA ’95) has been awarded the 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award.
Nugent, who completed a bachelor of arts in history at the U of L in 1995, is known for her teaching excellence and ability to create a safe and open learning environment. She encourages her students to think deeply and critically and offers them her time and support to help them succeed.
Nugent joined the Department of History in 2003 and for the past five years has scored at the highest level for teaching through the Faculty Handbook performance evaluation system. She was appointed a Teaching Centre Fellow in 2014 and was awarded the 2014-2015 Teaching Excellence Award by the U of L Students’ Union.
Nugent learned early in her career that creating an open, welcoming, respectful and safe environment is critical to providing an accessible university education. That belief formed the core of her teaching philosophy and she strives to establish a class environment where students feel encouraged and safe to explore new ideas and skills.
Each fall, Nugent chooses to teach History 1000 so that she can help students successfully navigate their way through the first term. She strives to engage her students with both practical and creative assignments, all underpinned by her desire to motivate students to succeed in and understand the value of their liberal education degrees. In this way, she ensures students think deeply and critically and helps put them on a path towards global citizenship.