Political Science Professor Rusty Simonds To Receive
the 2002 Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award

(Boston, MA) A.P. "Rusty" Simonds will receive the 2002 Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Massachusetts Boston commencement exercises held on Saturday, June 1, at the Bayside Exposition Center, 10:30 a.m. Professor Simonds of the Political Science Department is known for his consistent record of excellent teaching. He will be sharing the award with Professor David Hunt of the History Department, who arrived at the university the same year Simonds did.

Evaluated by a committee of his peers, Simonds was nominated for his "superb teaching." One recommender writes, "He is rigorous, yet caring and respectful of students, to whom he is endlessly generous with his time. His passion for learning and his high standards inspire his students to achieve at levels they once would have thought impossible for themselves." He has contributed to shaping the curriculum, worked on ways to bring technology in the classroom, and has an "infectious enthusiasm for his students' work.

An associate professor of political science, Simonds has taught at UMass Boston since 1969.

"The incredible richness and complex diversity of students in the classroom is fabulous," he says of his experiences at UMass Boston. "Students here are better than they know they are. I like to witness students discover they are good at something that they didn't know they could be."

Simonds teaches intro and upper level classes in political science which draw upon on his specialty in political philosophy and theory. "We look at the production of culture through communication and examine how values and beliefs get reproduced."

He also brings his interest in technology to the classroom. "I use it as an adjunct to our work in the classroom, whether it helps a big lecture hall to conduct discussion forums on-line or to provide an archival resource of lecture materials and syllabus for students."

He is the author of Karl Mannheim's Sociology of Knowledge and has published widely in journals such as Theory and Society, Ethics, and Social Theory and Practice. He actively presents research at both teaching with technology and political science conferences throughout the country. He has served as chair of the political science department for three years beginning in 1996 and will resume the post again in September 2002. Simonds received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1974 and his B.A. from Harvard College in 1965.

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