John H. D’Arms Faculty Awards for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring in the Humanities

Eligibility

Tenured faculty members in the humanities, including scholars and creative artists, may be nominated. Nominations of outstanding women, minorities and members of other groups historically under-represented in their disciplines are encouraged.

Selection Criteria

Nominees should have a sustained record of mentoring and advising doctoral students and be active in the direction of dissertations. They should demonstrate an extraordinary generosity of spirit in mentoring and fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth of their students at the highest level, and encouraging a culture of intellectual engagement in which they thrive.

Number of Awards

Up to three awards in the amount of $5,000. Recipients will also receive summer research funding for one humanities graduate student per year for up to three years. Award letter from Rackham will indicate the award duration and
award amount.

Source of Nominations

Nominations may be submitted by deans, directors, department/program heads, promotion or award committees, or individual faculty members.

Selection Process

A committee of faculty who are recognized as outstanding mentors will review nominations and submit recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School, who will make the final selection. Recipients will be notified in the winter term and awards will be formally presented at a ceremony.

Deadline

The nomination deadline is Monday, January 20, 2025, at 5:00pm, EST.

For more information contact:

Honors and Awards
Rackham Graduate School
Telephone: (734) 615-0255
Email: [email protected]

As described below, a nomination dossier must include a cover sheet with contact information, a nominating letter, and curriculum vitae. Incomplete nomination dossiers cannot be reviewed. The Graduate School will add to each nomination dossier a dissertation committee service report and the Registrar’s Teaching Evaluation “Instructor Report” that tabulates quantitative data only.

The online nomination dossier may be set up by a U-M faculty or staff member. Others may be given login access to the site as needed. The nomination system may be accessed as often as needed in order to complete the nomination dossier. All materials must be uploaded in Adobe PDF format.

Cover Sheet

Complete the online cover sheet with all information requested for both the nominee and the nominator—not the administrator who may have initiated the dossier.

Nominating Letter

As selection committee members represent a range of disciplines and may not be familiar with the nominee’s field, describe the nominee’s skills and dedication as a mentor in a way that conveys their significance to those not acquainted with the field. Given the number of engaged faculty, the letter should explain why the nominee’s particular contributions to mentoring are exceptional and deserving of this honor. Letters should discuss, for example, the nominees mentoring style, how the nominee mentors students in diverse career paths, the extent to which the nominee mentors students in teaching, and how the nominee mentors students in their professional development. The letter may incorporate quotations from former and current students, peers and faculty with whom the nominee has co-taught.

The letter may be no longer than 2,000 words. A new letter may be submitted for re-nominations to replace the earlier letter, or an addendum may be submitted to update the dossier.

Letters should show how the nominee:

• Models an impressive record of excellence in scholarly and/or creative work, teaching skills, academic and professional integrity, publication or artistic presentation, and the ability to obtain funding
• Ensures that students master the key content and skills of their discipline
• Attracts students to Michigan and to his or her field of study
• Promotes successful completion of students’ graduate work and degree programs
• Creates a rigorous and supportive environment for scholarship, research, and/or artistic production
• Maintains accessibility by providing consistently open lines of communication with students
• Provides students with the confidence, encouragement, and resources necessary to take full advantage of academic and professional opportunities
• Integrates students into the broader culture of the discipline
• Collaborates with other faculty to promote stimulating intellectual cultures in which students thrive
• Advances and enriches students’ long-term professional development—whatever career path the student may choose
• Contributes generally to graduate education in the humanities and/or arts at the University of Michigan

Curriculum Vitae

Provide the nominee’s current c.v. Please include placement information for students whose dissertation committees the nominee has chaired during the past fifteen years.

2024

• Manan Desai, Associate Professor of American Culture and Associate Professor of English Language and Literature
• Ishani Maitra, Professor of Philosophy
• John Whittier-Ferguson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Professor of English Language and Literature

2023

• Buss, Sarah, Professor of Philosophy
• Garrett, Charles, Professor of Music (Musicology)
• Nevett, Lisa, Professor of Classical Archaeology

2022

• Stephen Berrey, Associate Professor of American Culture and Associate Professor of History
• Sara L. Forsdyke, Josiah Ober Collegiate Professor of Ancient History, Professor of Greek and Latin, and Professor of History
• Farina Mir, Associate Professor of History, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

2021

• Christi-Anne Castro, Associate Professor of Music
• Lisa Nakamura, Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate Professor of American Culture and Screen Arts, Professor of Film, Television and Media, Professor of English Language and Literature, and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
• Megan Sweeney, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Associate Professor of English Language and Literature, Associate Professor of Afroamerican and African Studies, and Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies

2020

• Kevin Carr, Associate Professor of History of Art
• Victor Mendoza, Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Associate Professor of English Language and Literature
• Acrisio Pires, Professor of Linguistics

2018

• Marjorie Levinson, Professor of English Language and Literature

2017

• Marion A. Guck, Professor of Music (Theory)

2016

• Matthew Countryman, Associate Professor of American Culture and Associate Professor of History
• Frieda Ekotto, Professor of French and Professor of Comparative Literature
• Gareth Willams, Professor of Spanish

2015

• Kristin Hass, Associate Professor of American Culture
• Peggy McCracken, Domna C. Stanton Collegiate Professor of French, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, and Professor of Comparative Literature

2014

• Raymond Van Dam, Professor of History and Professor of Near Eastern Studies

2013

• Louise Stein, Professor of Musicology
• Patricia Yaeger, Professor of English Language and Literature and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies

2012

• Philip Deloria, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor of History and American Culture
• Cristina Moreiras-Menor, Professor of Spanish and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies

2011

• Rebecca Scott, Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Law

2010

• Elaine Gazda, Professor of History of Art
• Ruth Scodel, D.R. Shackleton-Bailey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Latin

2009

• Samuel Epstein, Marilyn J. Schatz Collegiate Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science
• Peter A. Railton, Gregory S. Kavka Distinguished University Professor, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and John Stephenson Perrin Professor of Philosophy

2008

• Anne Hermann, Professor of English and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
• Lesley Rex, Professor of Educational Studies

2007

• Celest Brusati, Professor History of Art and Professor of Women’s Studies
• Donald Lopez, Arthur F Thurnau Professor and Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies
• Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Kathleen Gough Collegiate Professor of Anthropology

2006

• Valerie Traub, Professor of English Language and Literature and Professor of Women’s Studies
• Thomas Trautmann, Professor of History

2005

• Geoffrey Eley, Professor of History
• David Potter, Professor of Classical Studies

2004

• Michael Schoenfeldt, Professor of English Language and Literature
• Katherine M. Verdery, Eric R. Wolf Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Associate, Center for Russian and East European Studies

2003

• David William Cohen, Professor of History, Professor of Anthropology, and Professor of Social Sciences (Residential College)
• Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, Professor of History, Women’s Studies, and American Culture, LSA
• Roland John Wiley, Professor of Musicology, School of Music

2002

• Elizabeth S. Anderson, Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Women’s Studies
• Patrice Speeter Beddor, Professor of Linguistics

2001

• Richard W. Bailey, Professor of English Language and Literature
• Joanne Leonard, Professor of Art, Professor of Women’s Studies, and Faculty Associate, Program in American Culture

2000

• George J. Bornstein, C.A. Patrides Professor of English and Professor of English Language and Literature
• Sharon C. Herbert, Professor of Archaeology and Professor of Greek; Curator and Director of Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
• Domna C. Stanton, Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor; Professor of Romance Languages and Professor of Women’s Studies

1999

• Kathleen M. Canning, Associate Professor of History and Associate Professor of Women’s Studies
• Sonya O. Rose, Professor of Sociology, Professor of History, and Professor of Women’s Studies
• Marlon B. Ross, Professor of English Language and Literature and Professor of Afroamerican and African Studies

1998

• Frances R. Aparicio, Arthur F. Thurneau Professor; Associate Professor of Spanish and Associate Professor of American Culture
• Ruth Behar, Professor of Anthropology and Professor of Women’s Studies
• Stephen H. Sumida, Associate Professor of English Language and Literature and Associate Professor of American Culture

1997

• Anne Ruggles Gere, Professor of Education and Professor of English
• Professor Cedomil Goic, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Professor of Spanish-American Literature
• Patricia Simons, Associate Professor of History of Art and Associate Professor of Women’s Studies

1996

• Enoch Brater, Professor of English Language and Literature and Professor of Theatre
• L. Ross Chambers, Marvin Felheim Distinguished University Professor of French and Comparative Literature
• Andrew W. Mead, Associate Professor of Music Theory

1995

• Judith O. Becker, Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology
• Luis O. Gomez, Charles O. Hucker Professor of Buddhist Studies and Adjunct Professor of Psychology
• Ludwig Koenen, Herbert C. Youtie Distinguished University Professor of Papyrology