LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 12, 2024) — Lukas Bullock, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies (GWS) in the College of Arts and Sciences, received one of the the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.
These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected through nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. Bullock is one of three Category 3 winners, which honors graduate teaching assistants.
“It feels so incredibly humbling and gratifying to be receiving this award, especially since it affirms the positive impact that students have felt from my pedagogical practices in the classroom,” Bullock said. “This award definitely motivates me to continue to deliver a dynamic, collaborative and engaging learning experience for my students that is rooted in positively impacting the communities around us!”
Bullock’s research interests include state feminism, social movements, foreign policy and knowledge politics. As an instructor, they have principally taught courses focusing on gender and pop culture and social movements. Their philosophical goal as an instructor is to impart the necessary analytical skills to help students make sense of a complex world, while also instilling confidence that they can positively change their surroundings through engaged forms of citizenship.
“It feels very gratifying to watch them grow over the course of the semester and to see them apply the skills they have gained in my classroom towards unpacking and understanding the messy world we live in,” Bullock said. “Seeing those moments big and small continues to ignite my passion for teaching.”
Nominators Jenn Hunt, director of graduate studies and associate professor in the GWS department, and Srimati Basu, chair and professor in the department, say Bullock’s students are engaged and clearly comfortable with the instructor, due in large part to Bullock’s efforts to engage students as holistic people who can engage with ideas both intellectually and through their own lived experiences.
“Lukas is a highly dedicated and talented instructor, who works hard to widen their students’ perspectives, develop their critical reasoning and other skills, and support them as individuals,” the nominators said. “All this while completing their degree at an exemplary pace, publishing a journal article, securing a Guest Researcher position at the University of Lund during fieldwork in Sweden, and being awarded a competitive Fellowship from the College of Arts and Sciences. They are a model of effective instruction by graduate TAs.”
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This year’s Outstanding Teaching Awards were given to six faculty and three graduate teaching assistants. Each winner received an award certificate, a commemorative engraved gift and a cash award in recognition of their teaching excellence at a campus ceremony on April 25. Read more here.
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