Stephanie Springer, Director of Internships and Career Readiness and a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Public and Applied Humanities, has received the Gerald J. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence. 

The Swanson prize recognizes excellence in undergraduate teaching at the University of Arizona. Created through a gift from the Thomas R. Brown Foundation in honor of Gerald J. Swanson, whose introductory economics course was legendary throughout his 40+ years at the U of A. Springer is one of four 2026 recipients, each awarded $5,000. 

“Stephanie teaches, mentors, builds, and inspires with exceptional vision and dedication. Her impact on undergraduate learning is evident in student and alumni stories, measurable program success, and the broader influence of the humanities internship model she created,” wrote Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, in a nomination letter. “Stephanie’s teaching exemplifies the highest standards of instructional excellence, reflecting innovation rooted in care, scholarship applied in practice, and leadership that elevates both students and peers.” 

Springer has played a pivotal role in the nation’s first and pioneering bachelor’s degree in Applied Humanities, designing and scaling an internship model that integrates humanistic inquiry with professional skill-building, embedding career readiness into the curriculum before students begin their internships. Over the past decade, she has taught and mentored more than 1,900 UA undergraduates who have collectively completed over 430,000 internship hours. 

“Stephanie blends intellectual rigor, institutional insight, and a profound student-centered ethic in everything she does. Her teaching inspires student enthusiasm, and her leadership strengthens faculty and programs,” wrote Judd Ruggill, Graduate College Associate Dean of Academic Services and Professor of Public and Applied Humanities. “Her instruction inspires students to approach internships with purpose and carry insights from her courses into their future endeavors, while also motivating colleagues to elevate their own teaching practices.”

As Chair of the University Internship Council since 2019, Springer has expanded its membership from 60 to over 160 participants, transforming it into a vibrant cross-campus community of practice, allowing faculty and staff to share teaching strategies, exchange resources and empower others to teach more effectively. In March, she received the U of A’s 2026 Community Impact Faculty Award in recognition for that work.  

Matt Mars, Professor and Head of the Department of Public and Applied Humanities, wrote that he first joined the U of A in 2000 as a pre-business academic advisor and got to know and admire Swanson for his ability to inspire and reach students. And much like Swanson’s “must-take” classes, Springer’s courses have earned a reputation for being relevant to where students are in their lives and fill quickly. One student recently described Springer as “the GOAT” (Greatest Of All Time). 

“Stephanie Springer shares the same passion for her work that Dr. Swanson was known for – centering student learning and growth above all else, treating teaching and mentoring as part science, part art, and fully a pursuit of excellence and impact. She exemplifies undergraduate teaching at its finest, designing courses that students actively seek out and remember long after graduation,” Mars wrote. “In the PAH Department, Stephanie’s teaching fosters curiosity, creativity, and cross-disciplinary connections that empower students to approach academic and professional challenges with confidence and purpose.” 

Beatrice Dupuy, Professor of French and Public and Applied Humanities, has received the University of Arizona’s Faculty Service Award. 

Sponsored by the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and funded through the Provost’s Investment Fund, the award recognizes faculty who have made exceptional contributions to the University’s service mission, within their department or college, across campus, or in their scholarly community. The University Faculty Service Award was created in 2022 and Dupuy is one of two 2026 recipients, each awarded $7,500 for research and/or professional development purposes to facilitate further work within their discipline. 

“Dr. Dupuy is a leader who has made exceptional contributions to the departments of French and Italian and Public and Applied Humanities, the Title VI Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy, the College of Humanities, the Graduate Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, and the University of Arizona’s missions and visions through excellence in the realm of service,” wrote Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, in a nomination letter. “Prof. Dupuy has managed to go beyond the expected in every single structure, internal and external, of the profession: departments, college, university, community, national and international venues.”

Since she joined the U of A in 2002, Dupuy has served for 12 years as Director of the French Basic Language Program, served for 16 years as Director or Co-Director of the Title VI Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy, and Co-Chair for the Cluster Hire Committee for Second Language Learning and Technology. She served for five years as Chair of the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program and has chaired 24 SLAT dissertations and served as a member on another 35 dissertation committees. 

“Few faculty members have contributed so consistently and at so many levels to the life of the university and the broader profession as Dr. Beatrice Dupuy has done. Her service reflects not only an extraordinary range of activities but also a rare combination of generosity, collegiality, and vision,” wrote Chantelle Warner, COH Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, who served along with Dupuy as Co-Director of CERCLL for 10 years. “Those of us who have had the privilege of working alongside her know that she approaches every committee, initiative, and conversation with an ethic of care and collaboration that elevates the work of all around her. I have also had the opportunity to be mentored by Dr. Dupuy, whose example has deeply influenced my own understanding of what it means to serve—thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with an eye toward the greater good of our academic community.”

Carine Bourget, Professor and Head of the Department of French and Italian, wrote that Dupuy has gone well beyond the expected level of service her whole career, serving on close to double the number of committees, compared to other COH faculty. 

“It should be emphasized that Professor Dupuy has made extraordinary contributions at all the levels mentioned: departmental, college, university, community outside of the university, and service for a relevant scholarly community,” Bourget wrote.

The two SLAT chairs who followed Dupuy, current chair Ana M. Carvalho and 2020-2025 chair Suzanne Panferov Reese, wrote a joint letter describing Dupuy as “a prolific scholar in the fields of foreign and second language with an emphasis in French pedagogy, language program administration, and applied linguistics with many academic papers and textbooks credited to her name.” Dupuy’s service to her field extends from that, as a professional academic journal reviewer, external reviewer for academic program reviews and tenure & promotion committees, and as a mentor to students.

“Her tireless dedication to students, transformative leadership, and steady service to the University of Arizona and the profession make her not only deserving of this award, but emblematic of the very spirit it was created to honor,” wrote Carvalho and Panferov Reese. 

Dupuy’s nomination even drew a letter from a former student, who she supervised in the 1990s at Louisiana State University. Now an Associate Professor of French at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Heather Willis Allen wrote about the impact Dupuy has had far beyond the U of A campus. 

“As a language educator in Wisconsin, I cannot understate the powerful influence that CERCLL has had across the U.S. through its webinars, conferences, open-access instructional materials, and opportunities for gathering together,” she wrote. “Beatrice’s service as CERCLL Director has shaped the incredible range of projects on second language teaching and learning that have been completed over four grant cycles, but the outcomes of those projects truly are not just local, regional, and national but also global as the innovative pedagogies and instructional materials disseminated through the Center find their way into language classrooms around the world.”

Working with the Pima County Food Alliance and a variety of community organizations, Applied Humanities majors spent the semester focused on ways to design and implement a more resilient local food system. 

The students in Jasmine Linabary’s PAH 420 class, “Innovation and the Human Condition: Learning How to Improve Life in the Community and Beyond,” worked in groups to partner with a dozen local organizations like the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, the Tucson Family Food Project, and the International Rescue Committee’s New Roots program to better understand the needs and opportunities in the local food system.

“It’s a basic needs issue around which everyone can relate and connect and a pressing, very complex challenge facing our communities,” said Linabary, Associate Professor in the Department of Public and Applied Humanities. “Some of my own research, teaching and service has centered around food for a number of years. Everyone has experience with food and even if you haven’t had the experience of being food insecure, you know what it’s like to be hungry.” 

Students in the class engaged with their community partners several times throughout the semester, volunteering at least five hours each as they learned about the organizations and how they respond to community needs. For the final projects, students were required to tell a compelling public story that centered the community’s needs, while grounded in rigorous research and ethical values. 

“This project is focused on building resilience. There’s a lot of need we’re hearing from folks in the community, and it’s a prime opportunity to bring students to community partners who have a wide variety of needs right now,” Linabary said. “It’s important for students to create work that’s valuable for the partners in terms of usability or implementation, but it’s also about the relationships that students formed with partners.” 

For Molly Bisbee, Katelynn Resendez, Jasmine Worcester and Will Barth, working with the IRC’s New Roots program brought them alongside a program that supports refugees with plots of land, seeds, tools and education to grow for themselves as well as to sell. 

“At first, we thought the New Roots itself would need a better digital footprint, but the program is at capacity, so we turned our attention to ways to assist the farmers and gardeners themselves,” said Bisbee, majoring in Applied Humanities – Business Administration emphasis. “We created multilingual brochures (in English, Spanish and Swahili) to both explain the scope of the program and tell some personal stories of some of the farmers and gardeners. These are like business cards so they can market themselves, but they don’t have to answer a lot of questions since they don’t speak English as a first language.” 

Emily Griffin, Alexis Valencia and Jacob Cermak partnered with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona to create an art installation celebrating Earth Day at the Santa Cruz River Farmers’ Market. Community members responded to prompts the students wrote, centering on themes of community, food, nourishment and ways to protect the Earth. 

“An art installation is captivating when you walk by, so we can spread awareness of food insecurity in a creative way that gets people to think about things differently,” said Griffin, who majors in Applied Humanities – Fashion Studies emphasis and minors in business administration. “You can only learn so much in the classroom, but once we were working with the community, we got to make connections and learned a lot through conversations about Earth Day.” 

With the variety of community partners, Linabary was able to pair students with partners whose work they could be more passionate about. 

“One of the really interesting things working in the food system is there are so many different aspects of food. We have students across our major who are interested in a whole range of different things with their lives after graduation. Some of the students who were more interested in the business side of things might have been partnered with a farmers market, for example,” she said. “This issue space allows for all those different interests.” 

The Applied Humanities major has 14 different emphasis areas, ranging from Business Administration to Public Health to Rural Leadership & Renewal, with the student project teams emphasizing the transdisciplinary nature of the program. 

“We have student groups that are mixed in terms of their emphasis areas and that really enriches the discussion and allows for students to bring in their other course work or skillsets and experiences. Part of what we’re teaching is to collaborate well, not just with community partners, but with each other,” Linabary said. 

The class focuses on approaches and skillsets grounded in the humanities and how those can make a difference compared to projects that originate in other fields. 

“Flexibility and adaptability are skills that come especially from Public and Applied Humanities work. It requires to you deal with ambiguity and learn ways to communicate with different kinds of audiences,” she said. “The ability to empathize is a big one. Students are really cultivating the ability to listen deeply, to go into a community and listen for context and recognize there’s a history here. We’re not just interested in transactional relationships, but instead thinking more transformatively about the work.” 

Students from the class have already expressed interest in continuing relationships beyond the course. Some have indicated interest in continuing volunteering and have already been applying for internships and jobs with their own partner or others from the class. 

Dr. Feng-hsi Liu, Professor Emerita in the Department of East Asian Studies and longtime director of the Chinese Language Program, passed away in March. 

She joined the University of Arizona faculty in 1991 as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Chinese Language Program. Over the past three decades, she has played a pivotal role in shaping and expanding the Chinese language curriculum, fostering a rigorous learning environment for generations of students, said Wenhao Diao, Head of the East Asian Studies Department. 

Throughout her long and distinguished career, Liu demonstrated an unwavering commitment to scholarship, teaching and service, leaving an indelible mark on the institution and the field of Chinese linguistics.

The author or editor of four books and numerous articles and book chapters, Liu was a renowned scholar in Chinese language, linguistics and grammar, with a particular focus on the syntax-semantics interface. Her research reshaped the study of Chinese word order by demonstrating how aspect, event structure, specificity and quantification determine syntactic distribution and interpretation. 

Dr. Hang Du, John D. Berninghausen Professor of Chinese and Greenberg-Starr Chair of the Chinese Department at Middlebury College, worked and studied with Liu for six years while pursuing her Ph.D. in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program. 

“I took her Chinese Linguistics class, worked as a graduate teaching associate for her in multiple classes, and used her theoretical framework for my dissertation on the acquisition of the Chinese ba-construction,” Du said. “She was a brilliant linguist, an effective teacher, an inspiring mentor and dissertation advisor, and a kind human being. She will always live in my heart."

Liu led the Chinese language program from 1991 until her retirement in 2024. Additionally, she served as Director of Graduate Studies from 2019 until 2024.

“Leading a language program is not just about classroom teaching, but mentoring instructors and graduate students who work within the program, as well as organizing cultural events to bring that authentic experience and cross-cultural understanding outside of the class,” Diao said. 

Beyond her scholarly work, Liu consistently led various cultural initiatives that greatly supported student retention and program development. The most recent example is a $210,000 Huayu BEST grant Liu received in 2024 from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, funding major Chinese holiday celebrations in the department and providing critical financial support for our students to study abroad in Taiwan.

Liu received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from UCLA in 1990, her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Iowa in 1979, and her B.A., Foreign Languages and Literature from National Taiwan University in Taipei in 1977. 

The College of Humanities asked various leaders from across the University of Arizona campus about the importance of multilingualism. Hear various perspectives about the value of learning and using multiple languages and how those experiences can shape our careers and our lives: 

“Language gives shape to our thoughts and helps turn ideas into reality. I believe the capacity to appreciate, understand and use more than one language inherently expands our horizons. I grew up in a multilingual home where we spoke English, Hindi and Telugu, and I also have some passing familiarity with Sanskrit, Tamil and French. The many languages in the air enriched my childhood and education, and with the confidence this inspired I have been able to visit every continent and enjoy being in many different social and cultural settings. In an increasingly globalized world, engaging with other nations and cultures will shape a better future for us all, and multilingualism is a crucial part of this ability.” 
Suresh Garimella
U of A President 

“When I first arrived from Spain, I had studied English, but nothing prepares you for full immersion. I remember struggling through Astronomy 101 lectures where there were no scientific formulas to fall back on, only language. Worse yet, I remember struggling to keep up in conversation with my new American friends at the dorms and elsewhere on campus. That experience taught me how vital multilingualism is. Being in Tucson now, I’m amazed by how naturally Spanish and English coexist. It’s one of the hallmarks that makes this community so globally connected. It enriches how we work together and deepens our ability to understand and respond to complex challenges.”  
Tomás Díaz de la Rubia
Senior Vice President for Research and Partnerships

“I spoke Portuguese before I spoke English. Portuguese was the bridge that connected me to my large family, scattered across various parts of the world. When I was younger, I used to mix English and Portuguese in the same sentence—sometimes I even invented words! My family laughed, but never criticized me. I realized that people communicate in different ways and that, with patience and curiosity, we always end up understanding each other.” 
Helena Rodrigues 
Chief Human Resources Officer

“Embracing multilingualism has deeply shaped how I connect with others, opening me to diverse cultures and giving me genuine respect for anyone who ventures outside their native tongue. Working as a professional Spanish and Portuguese interpreter throughout medical school taught me just how much language shapes trust, connection and healing. Words are powerful. When used well, they help us navigate life with empathy and clarity. Recognizing the power of multilingualism helps us move through the world with greater care.” 
Dr. Stephen Dahmer 
Director, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine
Associate Professor, Family and Community Medicine

“I grew up in France and first came to the U.S.—to Tucson, in fact—when I was 23. In school I was fortunate to learn English and Spanish from passionate and skilled teachers. As soon as I began doing scientific research as an undergraduate, those language skills opened the door to international research at the highest level. Today, my team works hard to create opportunities for faculty and students to collaborate with partners in France. While English remains the global ‘currency’ of academic communication, familiarity with French opens additional windows onto local culture — turning good working visits into truly unique life experiences.”
Régis Ferriere
Deputy Director, France-Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 

“I was born and raised in a small town in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. My first language is Javanese, and I learned Indonesian in school so I could communicate with people from other regions and islands. I began learning English in middle school, and because I love traveling, I enjoy picking up new languages wherever I go, even if it’s just simple phrases. As global citizens, it’s important for us to value and understand different backgrounds. Doing so helps us grow into more open-minded, well-rounded individuals.” 
Nina A. Bates 
Director, Operations and Strategic Initiatives
Office of the Provost

“Multilingualism, particularly Kannada, not only allowed me to conduct historical research with primary documents, but it also opened doors into restricted archives and temple spaces that would have otherwise remained inaccessible. It also helped me to develop bonds with local communities in meaningful ways. Now, as a university administrator, it continues to pay dividends by helping me to connect deeply with local leaders of multinational tech corporations in the Indian tech hub of Bengaluru.”
Caleb Simmons
Vice Provost, Arizona Online

“As ASUA Student Body President and a bilingual leader who grew up navigating both English and Spanish at home and in school, I have learned how languages build bridges. Speaking more than one language has helped me connect with a diverse group of students and ensure their voices are heard and seen. Multilingualism strengthens our community and reminds us all that every student’s story deserves representation.”
Adriana Grijalva
ASUA Student Body President

Congratulations to the College of Humanities’ Outstanding Senior for Spring 2026, Marisol Marquez Perez!

A first-generation student, Marquez Perez is graduating with a B.A. in Applied Humanities, Public Health emphasis, and a minor in Classics, with plans to continue to graduate school in public policy. 

Matt Mars, Professor and Head of the Department of Public and Applied Humanities, nominated Marquez Perez for the award, writing that he first met her when he was lead faculty for the Dorrance Scholarship Innovation Program, and she and her group developed an AI-driven model for providing first-generation college students with timely support within resource scarce university environments.

“Marisol consistently pushed herself and her teammates to take on the intellectual challenge and rigor of leading innovation and change,” he wrote. “She consistently demonstrated a range of humanities-based skills, such as compassion and empathy, critical thinking, and strategic storytelling, throughout the development and presentation phases of the project. Marisol clearly and convincingly showed that the humanities are be not only relevant, but highly effective devices relative to entrepreneurship and innovation.”

Outside the classroom, Marquez Perez served over the last year as Chief of Staff & Policy Director for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona. Last summer, she interned in the Phoenix office of Sen. Ruben Gallego, providing bilingual assistance and tracking constituent casework files and assisting with issues involving federal agencies. In spring 2025, she was an intern at the Arizona State Senate, staffing the Military Affairs and Border Security Committees. 

“In my career I want to build public policy that actually works for people, specifically by expanding healthcare access and protecting immigrant families,” she said. “As an Applied Humanities major with a public health emphasis, I’ve learned that you can’t fix a system if you don’t understand the humans inside it. My studies have pushed me to look past what a policy says on paper and ask ‘Who does this leave behind? And why? This human-centered lens is exactly what I plan to bring to graduate studies in public policy.” 

In her convocation address, Marquez Perez told fellow graduates about studying abroad during her sophomore year, walking into Sainte-Chapelle in France for the first time, not realizing at the time how much that experience would shift the way she sees the world.

“What stood out was not just the beauty, but the weight of what was being communicated without a single word. Every window panel told a story. Every deep blue and vibrant red had meaning, even if I did not fully understand the history,” she said. “That moment taught me that understanding isn't always about having every answer. Sometimes it’s about being present enough to notice, to sit with something beautiful or uncomfortable, and to recognize meaning even when you don’t fully understand it yet.

“It is one thing to learn about history, culture, or inequality in a classroom. It is another to stand in a place where those realities exist and recognize that your perspective is only one version of a much bigger story. And that is when it really clicked for me. This is what the humanities are about.” 

Alicia Salazar Contreras, who is graduating with dual degrees in speech, language, and hearing sciences and Spanish, is one of two recipients of the University of Arizona’s Robert Logan Nugent Award.

The Nugent Award goes to students who display a record of accomplishments that exemplifies the high ideals of Robert Logan Nugent, a former U of A executive vice president, which include active, enthusiastic participation in campus life, and dedicated service to the university and community.

A first-generation Hispanic student born and raised in Tucson, Salazar Contreras has witnessed firsthand the gaps in resources available to Spanish-speaking communities, particularly for individuals in need of speech and language services. These experiences inspired her commitment to advocating for her community and working to expand research and clinical representation for Spanish-speaking populations in the United States.

During her time as an undergraduate, Salazar Contreras participated in research as both a McNair and FUERZA Scholar. Through this work, she helped develop Sopa de Pescado, a Spanish-language diagnostic passage designed to support the differential diagnosis of motor speech disorders. Created with Spanish speakers in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in mind, the passage aims to encourage more culturally and linguistically responsive clinical practices.

Beyond research, Salazar Contreras has demonstrated a strong commitment to service. She served as an interpreting lead team member for ARSOBO, a humanitarian aid organization based in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, that provides free monthly audiological services to individuals in need. She also completed a year-long internship with the Tucson Unified School District, where she assisted a bilingual speech-language pathologist in providing services for bilingual children throughout the Tucson area.

After graduation, Salazar Contreras plans to pursue a master's degree in speech-language pathology and become a clinically certified bilingual speech-language pathologist. Her goal is to support and advocate for underserved Spanish-English bilingual communities in Tucson by providing culturally responsive speech and language services.

Additionally, two students with minors in the College of Humanities will receive university-wide awards: 

• Lane Vazquez Luna, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a minor in classics, is the other recipient of the Nugent Award. A Hispanic first-generation college student from El Mirage, Arizona, Vazquez Luna found a home in Tucson, where he developed a deep commitment to service, inclusion, and mentorship at the U of A.
   
• Gabriel Trinidad, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in physiology and medical sciences and minors in Spanish and biochemistry, is being awarded the Robie Gold Medal, which honor Wendell T. Robie, Class of 1917, and Inez Benzie Robie, Class of 1916, and recognize two students who exemplify personal integrity, initiative and a breadth of interests. Born and raised in Tucson, Trinidad is a first-generation college student from the city's west side whose experiences have shaped his commitment to health equity and service.

Daniel Rojas Arroyo, who is completing his M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics, is the College of Humanities 2026 Outstanding Graduate Assistant in Teaching Award recipient.

Since fall 2025, Rojas Arroyo has taught Spanish 101 in person, hybrid and online, the intensive Spanish 205 course, which combines two beginning semesters into one semester, and Spanish 253, Intermediate Spanish for the heritage learner. 

“Daniel has stood out as one of the most highly motivated, enthusiastic, engaged and collegial members of the teaching team—his passion for teaching, ability to successfully teach different course levels and modalities, energetic collaboration with colleagues, and investment in learning and implementing new techniques to improve student learning continue to shine in every semester that I have worked with Daniel,” wrote Cassidy Reis, Interim Director of the Spanish Language Program, in a nomination letter.

“Daniel’s dedication to student success, eager participation in retention and recruitment efforts, strong and consistent work ethic, and commitment to professional development and growth make him a deserving recipient of the COH Outstanding Graduate Assistant in Teaching Award,” Reis wrote.

Associate Professor Tania Leal wrote that in working with Rojas Arroyo in multiple capacities — a mentor, instructor in graduate coursework and the faculty observer of his Spanish heritage language class — she has seen his “exceptional dedication to teaching, reflective practice, and student-centered pedagogy.” 

“Daniel is a thoughtful and well-prepared instructor who designs lessons with clear objectives, strong internal coherence, and a careful progression of activities,” she wrote. “Equally impressive is Daniel’s ability to cultivate a supportive and respectful classroom climate. Students appear comfortable taking risks, asking questions, and experimenting with new language forms—an essential condition for successful language learning. Daniel responds to student errors with sensitivity and encouragement, guiding learners toward more accurate forms while maintaining their confidence and motivation.” 

One student in the accelerated Spanish 205 class wrote that Rojas Arroyo is an approachable and kind instructor who created an environment in which students felt comfortable asking questions and didn’t fear making mistakes. 

“I walked away with a passion for learning the Spanish language and now I practice Spanish every day in a variety of ways. I attribute most of my present habits, dispositions, and enthusiastic attitude towards Spanish to my experience in Daniel’s class,” the student wrote. “The activities and lessons were a perfect balance of education and activity. They were fun, and often involved collaborating with other students in the class, which helped to create a really lively learning environment and contributed to a classroom experience that always felt exciting.” 

Another student nominator, whose family comes from Sonora, Mexico, wrote that Rojas Arroyo, a native of Colombia, frequently encouraged discussion about regional differences in vocabulary and tone, which fostered engagement in the classroom. 

“Daniel teaches with genuine care and intentionality. In our relatively small class, he created an environment where students felt seen and encouraged, even when some struggled with motivation or confidence,” the student wrote. “As a first-generation college student who also felt disconnected from my native language, I entered the course with both excitement and uncertainty. Daniel immediately recognized and supported that experience in a way that made learning feel both personal and empowering. During my time as one of Daniel’s students, I not only strengthened my Spanish skills but also gained a deeper understanding of myself as a learner.”

Nathaniel Katz, Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies and Classics, is the recipient of the College of Humanities 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award.

Since joining the U of A in 2022, Katz has taught more than 5,000 students in a wide range of courses and modalities, from large gen-ed courses such as Classical Mythology (both in person and online) to upper-level courses on ancient empires, and even courses for the Arizona in Orvieto study abroad program and the Dorrance Scholarship Program, said Karen Seat, Head of the Department of Religious Studies and Classics.

“Dr. Katz has proven himself to be an outstanding teacher in all these courses, with many students continuing their studies with him and declaring the Classics major or minor as a result of the passion he inspires,” wrote Seat in nominating Katz for the award. “Dr. Katz is dedicated to continually improving his courses to create meaningful learning experiences and to connect with students, no matter the size or modality of the course.”

Even with his heavy teaching load and the large number of students he teaches, Katz is fully committed to student success and makes himself available to students outside of class to support them in their learning processes, Seat wrote, with student nomination letters speaking to their own experiences learning with Katz.

One student wrote about how taking a gen-ed course with Katz made him fall in love with Classics and declare a minor, which led him to taking courses with Katz for two more semesters in a row.

“If it weren’t for how entertaining and engaging Dr. Katz’s lectures were, I would never have found my passion for classics. Dr. Katz always brought an unmatched level of enthusiasm to his lectures, which always brightened my day,” he wrote. “While some of my other courses gave me mundane assignments that felt like busy work, each assignment from Dr. Katz was thought provoking and I genuinely loved doing them. The prompts he had for our weekly discussion posts were perfectly made to get students thinking about important questions and practice argumentative writing.”

Another student wrote that “Dr. Katz has been one of the most inspiring professors and orators I know.”

“He has an incredible charm and cadence to his lectures that would always keep the class entertained, engaged, and curious about what aspect of history or art we would learn next. He would also allow for open discussions surrounding individual interpretations of works, sparking individual connections and mutual growth with my classmates,” the student wrote. “My favorite part of having Dr. Katz as a teacher, however, was not his rousing talks, but instead, the moments spent outside of lecture. Dr. Katz is truly passionate about what he teaches and also has a great aptitude for understanding the goals and preferences of each one of his students.”

Seat wrote that she was able to witness Katz’s teaching mastery herself co-teaching a summer course with him in 2025. Students bound for Orvieto in the Dorrance Scholars Program take two Classics courses to prepare, which Katz taught back to back, with Seat joining in part of the second course.

“I was inspired and not a little dumbfounded at his excitement and joy in teaching each class session, as well as his ability to keep students engaged, hour after hour, day after day,” she wrote. “He showed no signs of losing his energy or enthusiasm as he led the second course of the day—and the students showed no signs of tiring of him. Dr. Katz is a master teacher.”