Department of Anthropology

The Department is happy to announce that at the Georgetown College Faculty Convocation held on 22nd January 2013, our colleague and friend Dr. Sylvia Onder was awarded the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching. It is the highest award given at Georgetown College and confirms Sylvia's dedication to the classroom and our collective project at Georgetown University.

Here is the text of the citation that was presented on behalf of the Departments of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Anthropology:

"A generous and creative colleague, a supportive mentor to students, a dynamic teacher, and a pedagogical leader, Professor Onder has been tirelessly committed to building two intellectual homes at Georgetown, one in Turkish Studies and one in anthropology. She has earned the deep respect and admiration of her colleagues and students, and we are proud to recognize her achievements today.

Particularly gifted at recognizing how students learn best, Professor Onder is constantly cooking up new ways to inspire and engage students. She has actively educated herself as a teacher, learning new techniques and winning grants that have allowed her to pursue advanced pedagogical training as a Doyle Fellow, and as a Teaching, Learning, and Technology Faculty Fellow with CNDLS. Partnering with anthropology students at Gallaudet University, and teaching at Georgetown’s program in Turkey, Professor Onder’s dedication to students has gone far beyond Georgetown’s gates.

Striking a balance between our teaching and research is never an easy thing to do, but this is what Professor Onder has managed to do throughout her career at Georgetown, building an active research portfolio into her teaching, and using her teaching as a platform for innovative studies in the field.

Professor Onder is the epitome of a committed, passionate educator working across a range of fields and disciplines, and regularly teaching Georgetown students from the College, SFS, and the School of Nursing and Health Studies. She is an inspiring and generous colleague with broad interests, a teacher who knows how to connect students with knowledge and learning, and a researcher who insists on forging intellectual connections between people and projects from all over the university."

Please join us in congratulating Professor Onder - it is well-deserved!