Throughout her academic career, Eleanor MacDonald has placed a special emphasis on the relationship between teaching and learning. This attitude is one of the reasons the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) recently recognized Dr. MacDonald with its Award for Teaching Excellence.

“I’ve learned that the instructor/student relationship has to be one of mutual trust, genuine interest, confidence in each other’s abilities, and common awareness of the purpose of each aspect of the course,” says Dr. MacDonald, an associate professor in the Department of Political Studies.

Dr. MacDonald, whose research focuses on contemporary political theory, has previously received several teaching honours. She is a three-time recipient of the Frank Knox Certificate of Commendation for Excellence in Teaching from the Alma Mater Society and a finalist for the Alumni Teaching Award in 2005. She earned the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society Teaching Award in 1991 and was a finalist for the TVO Best Lecturer Competition in 2010.

“Dr. MacDonald demonstrates versatility in political theory and thought,” says Mira Dineen (Artsci’ 11), AMS Academic Affairs Commissioner. “Students who take her classes such as Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Capitalism or Theories of Identity Politics are challenged to find new perspectives on issues.”

OUSA is a coalition of student associations from across Ontario. Each year the organization presents teaching awards to professors who have done an exemplary job engaging students in the learning process and helping them develop their analytical, critical, research and writing skills.