Humanities professor honored for teaching

Tue, May 6, 2008 |

Dr. Kevin Hoffman, lecturer in humanities, has been named recipient of Valparaiso University’s prestigious Caterpillar Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The Caterpillar Award is presented annually to a committed and effective Valpo professor who displays proven excellence in engaging and empowering students, in using innovative methods of teaching and in enhancing the personal, intellectual and spiritual growth of the students.

Other nominees for the award were Dr. Teresa Bals-Elsholz, assistant professor of geography and meteorology; Lanie Steinwart, lecturer in communication; Dr. Sandra Strasser, professor of information and decision sciences; and Dr. Nola Schmidt, associate professor of nursing.

A reception honoring Dr. Hoffman and nominees as models for exemplary teaching will be held May 7 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Valpo Center for the Arts.

Dr. Hoffman teaches in Christ College, Valparaiso’s interdisciplinary honors college, and coordinates the college’s respected freshman program. He joined the faculty in 2000 and has taught courses on Marx and Freud, democracy and education, environmental ethics, and personal love.

He has led focus sessions during the University’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, accompanied a group of students that repaired homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina and recently participated in the second annual VU Cabaret, an evening of student and faculty performances of music, drama, art, poetry and prose.

His articles on Danish author Søren Kierkegaard have been published in the Journal of Religion, the Journal of Religious Ethics, Christianity and Literature, and International Philosophical Quarterly. Dr. Hoffman earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology from Valparaiso and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University.

The University’s Committee to Enhance Learning and Teaching selects the recipient from nominations made by students and other members of the campus community.