The Department of Politics and International Studies is delighted to announce the 2022 Aaron Rapport Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching has been awarded to Dr Devon Curtis.
Dr Curtis is a Fellow of Emmanuel College and an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies teaching 'Politics of Conflict and Peace' and 'Politics of Africa'.
Her main research interests and publications deal with power-sharing and governance arrangements following conflict, UN peacebuilding, non-state armed movements in Africa, and critical perspectives on conflict, peacebuilding, and development. Her field research concentrates on the Great Lakes region of Africa, especially Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When asked about Dr Curtis, this is what a selection of her students had to say in this year's feedback survey:
"Devon Curtis- she is an excellent lecturer and leads well organised and very informative seminars, facilitating interesting and productive discussions between students. She is very approachable and very receptive to student queries."
"Dr Devon Curtis was a remarkable supervisor. She was very helpful in recommending additional readings, even for a more unorthodox approach to the question set. Her feedback was pointed and thoughtful, reflecting the fact she had actually read through and analysed the draft(s) submitted. Working with Dr Curtis has been an absolute pleasure and I wish her well."
"Devon Curtis! Amazing!"
At the 2021 awards, Dr Christopher Brooke, Director of Undergraduate Education in POLIS, commented that there should be Honourable Mentions for two other colleagues in addition to the winner and one of those Honourable Mentions was Dr Devon Curtis. When asked about winning this year's prize, Dr Curtis said,
"I’m delighted to have been awarded the 2022 Aaron Rapport Prize. My office used to be next to Aaron’s, and I could hear him passionately discuss US foreign policy with his students. His teaching enlivened and inspired us all and I feel honoured to have this connection with him. Although nobody could ever match Aaron’s dry sense of humour, I certainly share his enjoyment of all forms of teaching. My students over the years have been fabulous. I love discussing their ideas, insights and perspectives on global challenges."
POLIS has been awarding a teaching prize for several years which has been won by both junior and senior scholars. The teaching prize was renamed the Aaron Rapport Prize in 2020 in honour of our late and much lamented colleague, who died far too young in 2019 and who was himself a superlative teacher.