Richard T. Scanlan Teaching Fellowship
The Richard T. Scanlan Teaching Fellowship was established in honor of Richard T. Scanlan (1928–2009), Professor of Classics from 1967 to 1998. His inspired teaching went beyond the ordinary (the “Priest of Apollo” made his first appearance in a puff of smoke to predict the outcome of an upcoming Illini football game) and made classics relevant in students’ lives. Professor Scanlan began teaching the popular “Myth” and “Roman Civ” courses in 1972, making them among the most popular courses taught at the University of Illinois. During his service at the U of I he taught over 50,000 undergraduate students. Professor Scanlan was consistently included on the “List of Instructors Ranked as Excellent by Their Students” and received the Urbana–Champaign Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
This fellowship is awarded annually to a graduate teacher who demonstrates a similar sense of commitment and energy toward making the classics come alive.
2012 Winner Patrick V. Neff
Patrick is the kind of teacher who always knows his material and is tireless in creating new materials and testing out new techniques. Since he arrived in fall 2012, he has taught LAT 101, LAT 102 and CLCV 115, as primary instructor, and served as a grader for CLCV 120. Patrick fosters an open and friendly atmosphere in his classes, where his students know they will write Latin, speak Latin, and read Latin. His classes are fast-paced, well organized, and highly engaging. Patrick is dedicated to his students’ progress: he has supervised honors projects, held extra review sessions and even run a Saturday reading group. He has appeared on the university's "List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent" twice since he arrived in fall 2010. Patrick expects to receive his MA in Classics May 2013, with teacher certification, and is planning to become a Latin teacher.
2011 Winner Ryan McConnell
Ryan is one of the department's most popular instructors. Since 2006, he has taught all four levels of introductory Latin and elementary Greek as sole instructor. He has also served as a TA for Mythology and as a grader for Greek Civilization and the Archaeology of Rome. Whether his students are laughing at his demonstration of Arrius' h's or standing up to sing Gaudeamus Igitur, they know they are working with an expert teacher, who lets the classroom conversation be guided by their curiosity. Ryan's exceptional expertise, endless patience, and good humor have helped him appear no less than eleven times on the university's "List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students".
