Faculty Members Honored for Teaching

Two junior Faculty members have received the Roslyn Abramson Award, given annually for excellence in teaching.

Assistant Professor of Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies Eileen C. Chow ’90-’91 and Assistant Professor of Government J. Russell Muirhead ’88 will each receive $5,000 stipends, from the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, intended for use in research and course development.

Muirhead, a specialist in political theory, has served as the government department’s head undergraduate tutor and has run a number of seminars and tutorials for undergraduates.

He also teaches Moral Reasoning 64: “Ethics and Everyday Life.”

“He’s amazingly knowledgeable,” said Daniel S. Fox ’04, who took the Core course last fall. “He gives lucid lectures.”

Andrew J. Gartland ’04, who also took the class, said Muirhead’s lectures made an impression on him.

“I had to miss his class and my other classes on multiple occasions, but the only ones I made sure to watch on video before finals were his,” Gartland said.

Muirhead said Professor of Government Michael J. Sandel has been a major influence on his career as an educator.

Muirhead took Sandel’s Moral Reasoning 22: “Justice” as a first-year student at the College and later taught the course as a Harvard graduate student.

“Having taught lecture courses myself now for several years, I admire his ability all the more—it’s no small trick to carry on a discussion with six or 700 students,” Muirhead said.

Chow’s most popular class is Chinese Literature 130: “Screening Modern China,” which had an enrollment of about 140 students last fall. Chow could not be reached for comment.

“She was one of the most enthusiastic professors I have ever had,” said Vivian M. Song ’02. “I could tell she really enjoyed teaching.”

Despite their disparate academic fields, the Abramson Award actually marks the second time this school year that Chow and Muirhead have shared a distinction.

The two first became acquainted when Fifteen Minutes (FM), the weekend magazine of The Crimson, profiled them in an article about fashion that ran last November. Each of them commented on various aspects of the other’s sense of style.

In the article, Chow said she used to have “extremely short hair and extremely severe glasses” as an undergraduate.

These days, Chow’s fashion sense garners the same acclaim as her lectures.

“She has style,” Song said, “and great bags.”

Muirhead told FM that, outside of class, he dresses “badly; in jeans and t-shirts with the occasional flannel flourish.”

Fox said he approves of his professor’s wardrobe.

“He’s a sweater guy,” Fox said.

Muirhead offered a relationship between fashion and teaching via analogy.

“There are a thousand ways to dress well, and a thousand ways to teach effectively,” Muirhead said. “As everyone has to find his or her own style, so every teacher has to find his or her own voice.”

—Staff writer Maria S. Pedroza can be reached at mpedroza@fas.harvard.edu.