2018 Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence

Citation for Brian Castleberry

Colleagues describe Professor Castleberry as a dedicated, gifted, and versatile educator, continually seeking and experimenting with new angles and new ideas. He has taught more than a dozen courses in English literature, creative writing, and film and media studies - and these range from writing-intensive COLL 150 and introductory creative writing courses to upper-level fiction and nonfiction courses to advanced workshops and courses in screenwriting and writing for television, along with a research seminar on the Latin-American avant-garde. He has adapted two courses for online summer delivery, winning high student evaluations.

Students at every level praise his ability to lead discussion, encourage creative thinking and writing, and guide them in improving their work - whether they are writing academic papers, creative nonfiction, or fiction. They appreciate how available he is for help, how responsive he is by email, and the detailed and constructive feedback he gives them on their assignments. Noting that he provides "the freedom to explore new formats, methods, and concept ideas" and "consistently creates opportunities outside of class for the benefit of our work," students describe a classroom experience that is at once friendly, engaging, passionate, funny, and stimulating.

It is fitting that he now be recognized with the Arts & Sciences 2018 Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.