The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences selected Professor Jeffrey Miller (Political Science and International Relations) as its 2011-12 Full-Time Teacher of the Year. In honor of his achievement, his name will be added to the Teacher of the Year plaque located in the Jacobson Faculty Tower lobby on the campus. He will also receive $1,000 to be used for professional development, and will present a talk or lead a workshop on pedagogy for interested faculty in the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Miller was nominated by Joel Lefkowitz, his department chair. “In all the ways we measure success in teaching—curricular development, quality of teaching materials, peer reviews of teaching, quantitative and discursive student evaluations, work with students outside the classroom, and successful outcomes—Professor Miller has compiled a stellar record,” said Lefkowitz.
Hired as a specialist in political theory, Miller has taught numerous sections of 10 separate courses ranging from classical and medieval political thought, modern political theory, political obligation and punishment and honors course, the individual and society, as well as special topics courses like theatre and politics, 20th century political thought, liberalism and its critics, and Greeks, Romans, and barbarians. He has directed more than 30 independent studies, more than half of them in the last five years. Fifteen of his students have presented papers at statewide and regional professional conferences.