Student support and generosity leads to graduate teaching award

Dr. Jeffrey Brison is the recipient of this year’s Faculty of Arts and Science Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. The award honours faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to promoting graduate student excellence through teaching, supervision, and mentorship at the graduate level.

“I’m extremely pleased to win this award and am very honoured by it,” says Dr. Brison, Co-Director of the Cultural Studies Program and Associate Professor in the Department of History. “Graduate supervision and teaching has occupied a central place in my academic career and is intricately interwoven with my pedagogic and research practices. Without a doubt, my proudest moments at Queen’s are connected to my collaborations with the outstanding group of MA and PhD students I’ve been fortunate to work with in a variety of capacities.”

Dr. Brison was nominated by a group of current and former students led by Bronwyn Jaques, a doctoral candidate in the Cultural Studies Program. In her nominating letter, she notes that Dr Brison has been one of her strongest and most steadfast supporters during her time at Queens.

During her Master’s studies and now as she completes her doctoral work, Dr. Brison has been instrumental in her academic and professional success, she says. He facilitated a number of academically enriching and professionally rewarding internships and research contracts with local non-profits, cultural institutions, and international research groups for her, which have proved invaluable to her learning experience and integral to her professional development.

“Dr. Brison goes above and beyond for any student with whom he works, regardless of whether they are working directly under his supervision, are students in his classes, or are students in the Cultural Studies Program,” says Jaques.

The widespread support of his nomination for this award is evidence of the high regard with which students hold him. “As a student and as a Teaching Assistant, I have witnessed first-hand the work Dr. Brison puts into fostering a welcoming learning environment and the care and respect he demonstrates in his interactions with all students.”

Karen Dubinsky, Dr. Brison’s colleague in both the History and Cultural Studies programs agrees. She says she has “long admired Jeff’s incredible generosity, the single best word that describes his approach to teaching. Jeff does not trade in academic hierarchy, he treats students as colleagues; people with whom we can exchange, trade ideas with, learn from.”

“Dr. Brison’s supervision is characterized by a deep sense of respect for his students’ research and a fierce belief in their potential,” says Taylor Lynch, who completed her Masters in History and doctorate in Cultural Studies. “Dr. Brison is warm, kind, and generous, modelling to his students and colleagues what it means to be an inclusive researcher and academic.”

To learn more about the award, visit the website.