Dr. Tracy Burkett, Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of Charleston, received the College of Charleston’s Distinguished Teaching Award at the “Celebration of Faculty” gala on Tuesday, April 24th.
Dr. Burkett embodies the teacher-scholar model by remaining engaged in an ongoing research agenda, by keeping updated on newly published research literature and by presenting at and attending other scholars’ presentations at professional conferences. Dr. Burkett constantly reflects on her teaching and engages in an on-going process of reviewing her course curricula to determine what works well with students. As a result, Dr. Burkett’s classes reflect a thoughtful ongoing process of improving the pedagogical methods she employs in addition to updating the content of her classes. Dr. Burkett supports this process by engaging in rigorous pedagogical research, by participating in pedagogical workshops at professional meetings and by regularly talking with colleagues about what they do in their classes. In this way, she exemplifies the life-long learners we want our students to become.
Over the last 6 years, Dr. Burkett has taught 10 different classes including two courses for the Environmental Studies program, one of which was team-taught seven times with three different faculty from the School of Science and Math. Dr. Burkett was also was the first in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to teach Honors Introduction to Sociology for the Honors College. Particularly noteworthy is Dr. Burkett’s supervision of 44 individual enrollment courses, including Internships, Independent Studies, Tutorials, Academic Apprenticeships, Bachelor’s Essays and Masters in Environmental Studies’ students’ theses, internships and independent studies. These individual enrollment courses are high impact learning experiences for College of Charleston students, requiring a significant commitment of Dr. Burkett’s time and energy. Dr. Burkett has positively influenced the lives of thousands of College of Charleston students who carry her passion for learning into their communities and she exemplifies the outstanding teaching for which the College of Charleston is known.