Humanities 1:Layout 2 - University of Cape Town

DISTINGUISHED TEACHER AWARD
The Distinguished Teacher Award, given once only to an individual, recognises teaching at any or
all levels by a member of the faculty that has made a significant and lasting impression on students.
Previous recipients in the Faculty of Humanities and their years of award are:
1985: TL Dowdall (Child Guidance Clinic)
1986: DE Kaplan (Economic History)
1988: N Bakker (Education)
1989: HJ Snyman (Afrikaans en Nederlands)
1990: KM McCormick (English Language and Literature)
1992: L Marx (English Language and Literature)
J Parkington (Archaeology)
N Worden (History)
1993: W Mazamisa (Religious Studies)
G Solomons (Classics)
C Weare (Drama)
1995: M Adhikari (History)
1996: R Mendelsohn (History)
1999: D Benatar (Philosophy)
DH Foster (Psychology)
WR Nasson (History)
2000: JV Bickford-Smith (Historical Studies)
CJ Breen (Education)
2001: RS Edgecombe (English Language and Literature)
H Phillips (Historical Studies)
2002: AK Mager (Historical Studies)
2003: B Liebl (South African College of Music)
2004: HH Schomer (Psychology)
2005: PR Anderson (English Language and Literature)
Y Banning (Drama)
2006: Z Erasmus (Sociology)
E Mills (Drama)
2007: J Bennett (African Gender Institute)
2008: VM Everson (French Language and Literature)
The following members of the Faculty of Humanities have been chosen for this award in 2009:
Carrol Clarkson
Associate Professor in English Language and Literature
Associate Professor Carrol Clarkson is a passionate and brilliant teacher. She prioritizes the
teaching event as singular: that is to say, what happens in each lesson will never be repeated in
exactly the same way. In all teaching contexts, responsiveness on the part of the students is the
medium in which the ideas can have life, in which justice will be done to the thoughts expressed.
She creates and sustains that singular, responsive relation.
Excelling at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the English Department and at postgraduate
level in the Law Faculty, Carrol’s impact is both broad and deep. Each teaching experience is an
opportunity to create the space in which different voices can be heard, to listen carefully and to teach
students to listen to each other. In these contexts, students gain fresh perspectives, and, perhaps
most importantly, they discover that what you ask, and the way in which you formulate a research
question in itself is critical. Grounded in its philosophical, theoretical, and aesethic context,
rigorous engagement with literary theory challenges students to ask unsettling questions about
their own social contingencies, to think carefully about things that could have been, and still could
be, so different.
Carrol demonstrates great teaching inspires excellent research. This exceptional combination is
embodied best in Carrol’s development of the Coetzee Collective, a group of local and international
scholars who share their passion and scholarship on Coetzee, positioning UCT as the place in the
world to engage as a Coetzee scholar. She brings to all these endeavors her immense intellect,
energy and capacity to communicate and her care and attention.
It is thus with great pleasure and appreciation that the University of Cape Town honours Carrol
Clarkson with a Distinguished Teachers Award.
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