Professor of Political Science and Director of Afrikana Studies Clarissa Peterson won the 2016 Anna Julia Cooper Teacher of the Year Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) on March 29.
NCOBPS was formed in 1969 to address issues within the African American community in the context of the Political Science field. Those involved strive to promote research and analysis of marginalized groups.
The award was created 10 years ago and has been given to either one or two black political scientists each year. Those selected demonstrate excellence in their fields, as teachers and as mentors.
“The professor who gets this award should have a track record in mentoring and Professor Peterson had been mentoring African American students on campus very effectively for many years,” said Sunil Sahu, chair of the Political Science department.
Peterson said she has enjoyed guiding students through their time at DePauw.
“I’m really a classroom person and a person who values mentoring,” she said.
After professors are nominated, they must send in documentation from the last three years if they are junior professors and from the last 10 years if they are seniors. Peterson is considered part of the senior category. She sent in syllabi, course evaluations and letters from students to be evaluated.
“This organization said we think that what you’re doing is extremely important to the university, but also to the larger political science community as a whole,” Peterson said.
During her time as an undergraduate student at the University of Akron, Ohio, Peterson was accepted into the Ralph Bunch Program. Throughout this program the summer before her senior year, Peterson met Courtney Brown, a man who used complex mathematics to discuss political science.
“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can do math and political science at the same time!’” Peterson said. “After talking to him and learning how to do what he did, I realized it was what I wanted to do.”
Peterson continued her education at Emory University for graduate school and kept working with Brown as his graduate assistant. She then began to teach mathematical modeling at the University of Michigan over the summer as part of the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) for graduate students and faculty across the world.
Peterson then took her extensive educational experience behind the teacher's desk.
“Students find her courses challenging, and she teaches important subjects in Political Science and Africana Studies that push students outside their comfort zones,” said Rebecca Bordt, professor of sociology and anthropology, via email.
Members of the Political Science department believe that Peterson's winning of the award has positively affected the department as a whole.
“At a time when there is so much national discussion about race, to see a colleague who is really not only teaching but also excelling at doing what she’s doing, makes us feel very good about her being a member of her department,” Sahu said.
“She has the courage to stand up for her principles in a forthright way, knowing her position might be unpopular or outvoted,” added Jennifer Everett, associate professor of philosophy and co-director of the Environmental Fellows Program, via email.
David Gellman, chair of the History department, believes it was Peterson's dedication to her students that truly won her the award.
“Professor Peterson is a person of great principle,” Gellman, said. “One of her principles is addressing the needs of her students.”
Peterson’s favorite part of her job is mentoring students and using her own experience as a black woman to shed light on issues of race.
“[I love] letting [students] understand and know that we have many possibilities as black people, and in particular as black women, and the images that people see on television and in other venues are not the complete picture of my community,” Peterson said, “and they also have a different understanding of me and of race and of how important it is to understand this complexity of black people.”
But in the end, Peterson wishes to extend her mentoring past the black community and find ways to connect with every student she teaches.
“I have the opportunity to mentor a number of students and not just black students," Peterson said, "but a variety of students I think are often times surprised at the things we have in common and the relationships we can have when you take all of your biases and put them aside and say this is a professor and she cares, now let’s move on."