Commonwealth Honors College Awards Deepika Marya the College Outstanding Teaching Award

Content

Deepika Marya, senior lecturer in Commonwealth Honors College (CHC), has been awarded the College Outstanding Teaching Award for the 2022-2023 academic year. Each year, the college gives the award to a faculty member who demonstrates excellence and creativity in teaching, a positive impact on their students, and a mastery of their subject.

Marya said she was “humbled” to hear she was the recipient of the award this year, and is “thankful” to her students who have “taught” her.

“The award is an opportunity to pay closer attention to pedagogy, so it responds to my overall goal of making students more interested in learning,” said Marya.

CHC Dean Mari Castañeda said: “Professor Marya is deeply committed to students and facilitating a classroom environment that rigorously engages with the critical issues affecting our world today. Her pedagogical approach is rooted in justice and joy, and we are very lucky to have her part of our Honors faculty.”

Marya has been at UMass Amherst since 2015, and decided to go into teaching while completing her Ph.D. “The word education, as you know, comes from the Latin word educere meaning to lead and draw out,” she explained. “How we do it [leading and drawing out] makes all the difference."

"An essential part of teaching for me has been critical thinking and challenging worn-out models."

Her favorite part about being an educator is being able to help students “think for themselves” and learning what “excites different people.” Marya teaches two seminars for CHC, one of them being an Honors Thesis seminar on globalization. In this class, Marya looks for students who have an interest in understanding even just a part of globalization and are willing to produce something for the class that they are excited about. “They are not only the learners, but they decide what is important for them and how they will go about developing their ideas,” she explained. 

The College Outstanding Teaching Award is a program co-administered by the UMass Center for Teaching and Learning. COTAs are presented annually each spring semester. Each award consists of $1,000 prize and a commemorative plaque. All staff and faculty are eligible for the award and are nominated by their respective colleges each year.