A Nebraska Wesleyan political science professor has been honored with the university’s top teaching award.
Kelly Clancy, assistant professor of political science, has been awarded the Margaret J. Prouty Faculty Teaching Award. The award recognizes and rewards faculty for the pursuit of excellence in teaching and who has made a distinct difference in the intellectual lives of students.
“Kelly Clancy is truly an exemplary teacher and an outstanding professor,” said a student nominator. “The most crucial part of teaching is putting the needs of the student before your own. Kelly feels with her students. She is able to relate and can emotionally connect herself with our situation yet maintain our professional relationship.”
Clancy came to NWU in fall 2015. Her research focuses on questions of social justice and the politics of protest. She teaches classes in minority politics, politics of Europe, democratization, global politics among others.
In her nearly four years at Nebraska Wesleyan, Clancy has been awarded the Advocate for Diversity Award for restructuring her minority politics class into a discourse instructive class to include cultural conversations and issue dialogues. She has accompanied students to Montgomery, Ala., for a justice summit held in conjunction with the opening of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. She’s participated in student-faculty collaborative research that has taken students to Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
In May, Clancy was selected as one of 10 faculty in the country to be named a Nancy Weiss Malkiel Scholar. The award, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is given to junior faculty whose research focuses on American history, politics, culture and society, and who are committed to the creation of an inclusive campus community for underrepresented students and scholars.
“She is as wise as she is kind, and she is what makes Nebraska Wesleyan shine,” said a nominator. “She is what makes me strive as a student, and she deserves the award.”
Previous winners of the Prouty Teaching Award include:
- Jonathan Redding, religion, 2017-18
- John Spilker, music, 2016-2017
- Tamra Llewellyn, health and human performance, 2015-2016
- Angela McKinney, biology, 2014-2015
- David Gracie, art, 2013-2014