The Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching is awarded each year to a faculty member who, in the eyes of colleagues and students, has demonstrated unusual gifts as an instructor. Nominations from faculty and students are sifted by a panel of experts, former Edgar Carlson Award winners, and discussed at great length before making a recommendation to the dean of the College. Each year the panel looks for someone who has not only demonstrated that he or she is an expert in his or her field, but who can also communicate that knowledge to students with enthusiasm and effectiveness.
This year’s winner is Dr. Douglas Huff of the department of philosophy. He is a noted scholar, former Danforth fellow and Fulbright scholar, and described by students as “brilliant,” “witty” and “profound.” He is also, to my knowledge, the only member of this faculty who lists among his mentors one Jake Christianson, longtime football coach at Concordia College.
Dr. Huff attended Concordia College and went on to study law at the University of Colorado and philosophy at the University of Missouri where he obtained his PhD in 1974. During this time he spent two years in the Peace Corps where he taught English as a second language in Turkey. He has been a member of the Gustavus faculty since 1974.
As a philosopher, he is primarily interested in contemporary analytic philosophy, having written papers on subjects ranging from “Wittgenstein and Universals.” to “Rationalizations and the Application of Causal Explanations of Human Action” to “Character, Consequences and Act Utilitarianism.” Many faculty and students are also aware that he’s the author of three full-length plays, one of which was produced at the New Classic Theatre in Minneapolis and another which was performed on campus in January, and he has also written a number of short stories. Fewer of us are aware that he’s also spent time teaching English to junior high school students in Mexico, teaching logic to residents of the State Hospital as a volunteer, or teaching high school students in Saint Peter about Plato and Aristotle in an effort to bolster the humanities program at Saint Peter High School.
But today we are primarily recognizing him for his prowess as an instructor of philosophy. The many nominations from students spoke eloquently and thoughtfully of his ability to communicate his love for his field to students.
To quote one of the nominations, “Dr. Huff is brilliant, but that’s not what makes him such an excellent professor; it only enhances what he does. He infuses every subject with excitement and enthusiasm-even the most dry matters can be salvaged by his presentation. His ability to communicate is amazing and under all conditions he sees to it that everyone in the class understands the subject matter. This recommendation comes not only on the basis of my time with hi m in class, but also on the basis of conversations with other top students who share my views that Dr. Huff is one of our very best faculty members in every way.” Others speak of how approachable he is, of the personal attention he pays to each student in his classes. of his ability to make difficult abstract philosophies relevant to today’s world and understandable to nonmajors, and finally of the effect he has had on their lives by forcing them to think about their responsibilities as individual citizens in this world.
Dr. Huff, on the basis of this show of confidence by students and faculty colleagues, and in recognition of a distinguished career of scholarship and pedagogical excellence at this institution. it is a pleasure to award you the 1992 Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Presented by Timothy Robinson
Dean of the College
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