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Excellence and Expertise

Four Miami Regionals faculty recognized for teaching excellence

Four Miami University Regionals faculty recognized by the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection.

Excellence and Expertise

Four Miami Regionals faculty recognized for teaching excellence

Beth Dietz (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Janelle Allen (Biological Sciences), Jennifer Purdum (Humanities & Creative Arts), and Theresa Kulbaga (Languages, Literature & Writing)
Beth Dietz (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Janelle Allen (Biological Sciences), Jennifer Purdum (Humanities & Creative Arts), and Theresa Kulbaga (Languages, Literature & Writing) were recognized by the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection.

Four Miami University Regionals faculty were among 31 regional university faculty recognized by the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection in its annual Celebration of Teaching. The virtual event was the 34th time the consortium recognized faculty who are nominated by peers, colleagues, and students as being the “best of the best.”

The faculty recognized were Janelle Allen (Biological Sciences), Beth Dietz (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Theresa Kulbaga (Languages, Literature & Writing), and Jennifer Purdum (Humanities & Creative Arts).

Allen, a visiting faculty member, has taught over 20 different courses since she began teaching at the Regionals. She cites Environmental Biology, Field Botany, Human Physiology, and Community Health Perspectives as her favorite courses, and she serves as part of the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Beth Dietz is a professor in the Department of Psychology. She has written extensively about learning and high-impact methods, including co-authoring the 2012 book Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She developed CAR (Content, Application, Reflection) as an integral component of online learning courses, and she actively engages students in research and scholarship leading to many publications and presentations.

Professor of English and gender studies Theresa A. Kulbaga is the author (with Leland G. Spencer) of Campuses of Consent: Sexual and Social Justice in Higher Education published in 2019 by University of Massachusetts. Her essays on women’s autobiography, feminist theory, and critical pedagogy appear in Prose Studies, College English, English Journal, and other peer reviewed journals.

Jennifer Purdum is an assistant teaching professor who has exhibited in Iceland, New York City, and Cincinnati where her “Exodus Print Series” is part of Cincinnati Art Museum’s permanent collection. Living through Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans deeply developed her fascination with the transitory nature of place and objects and she continues to explore the topic through printmaking, drawing, and assemblage. 

The Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection comprises 18 colleges and universities in the Greater Cincinnati Area. It was originally formed in 1974 as the Greater Cincinnati Consortium for Colleges and Universities to promote cooperation and collaboration among its member colleges and universities. The members strive to enhance the vitality of higher education and strengthen the faculty, administration, and student body of each individual institution.

The program for this year’s honorees is available online.