2024 Bok Awards for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates
Graduate students recognized for commitment to teaching and mentorship
Harvard Griffin GSAS is a place where students learn to be scholars, scientists, and researchers—those who create knowledge. Just as important, however, is the School’s role as a training ground for those who inspire others to learn and discover. The five recipients of the 2024 Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates exemplify these extraordinary young teachers and mentors.
Grace Burgin
Grace Burgin’s exceptional teaching has led to some crowded office hours. Her attention and energy, coupled with her well-thought-out approach to pedagogy, left such an impression on students that even those not in her discussion session sought out her knowledge and help with coursework.
“[Burgin] intentionally builds a framework for students to organize complex ideas in genetics and thinks hard about seemingly disparate aspects of the course to bring clarity to difficult topics,” wrote Robin Hopkins, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology in their nomination. “Students have explained to me that she answers questions with not only what the answer is but why the answer is as such, why it is important, and how what we learn from the answer relates to other aspects of the course students understood better.”
That Burgin’s work is rooted in community and adaptability was most evident during the pandemic when she embraced the challenge of supporting an online genetics class. Hired by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Burgin helped “flip” the classroom, generated a final project for the group, and supported professors as they recorded lectures and designed problem sets. Because of her, the course was effective and engaging and earned the admiration of students as well as instructors, who have continued to use and refine her strategies.
Burgin’s work culminated in the fall of 2023 when she was able to engage students with activities and ideas from the pandemic. This included incorporating the social, societal, and ethical context of genetics research into the course to show that science is impossible in isolation. As a teaching fellow working with students, Burgin also designed and helped implement a final podcast project. Thoughtful and fun, the project gave every student a voice in their learning, contributing to their curiosity, independence, confidence, and excitement.
“Grace possesses an innate ability to meet students where they are, fostering a mentor-mentee relationship where mistakes are welcomed as opportunities for growth, and as evidence that you have attempted something new,” wrote one student. “Her genuine engagement with my ideas, ability to give constructive criticism when required, and inclusion of me in the process of publishing a paper made it clear she truly respected me and my contributions,” wrote another.
Grace Burgin, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to present you with the Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates. Congratulations!
Kassandra Diaz
Exceptional devotion to her students. Deep investment in fostering a welcoming community. A commitment to constant self-improvement as an instructor. Kassandra Diaz, or KC, had the characteristics of an outstanding educator before she even stepped foot on the Harvard campus or became a teaching fellow in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.
In speaking with Diaz before she applied to Harvard, Associate Professor David Atherton, now her faculty advisor, saw that the opportunity to teach was a main factor drawing the young scholar to graduate school. “Other faculty had wised to her dedication and talent at building community and deepening learning,” he wrote in his nomination. “She had, for example, spearheaded a graduate peer-mentoring program immediately upon arrival on campus—and they were eager to bring her on for their courses.”
Through listening, experimenting, and seeking feedback to correct course when necessary, Diaz honed her pedagogical skills—so much so that the 24 undergraduates in her course, Traditional Japanese Literature: From Mythology to (Early) Modernity, were shocked to hear it was her first time teaching. “She approached this class with what seemed like a steady, experienced hand. She was personable, relatable, and deeply invested,” expressed one student in their Q evaluation. “She invented effective activities for the section that made me think she had run [it] for years.” When another student eager to take the course could not make either of the section times, Diaz committed to meeting with him personally, essentially volunteering to teach a third mini-section to a single student.
Diaz’s talent in fostering an inclusive classroom went hand in hand with her capacity to push students’ thinking, with one noting that “she not only made the material accessible to someone who has never read nor analyzed Japanese literature before, but she also stoked the flames of our curiosity and encouraged [us] to think outside the box. No answer was wrong, no question not worth asking, and no opinion not valued in her section.”
When students expressed in solicited feedback that small-group discussions went on too long, Diaz took them seriously and completely retooled her lesson plans into smaller, more targeted units and brainstormed with her advisor on how to complement lectures more effectively. That commitment to the integrity of the learning process—and each student—is the hallmark of Diaz’s approach to teaching.
Kassandra Diaz, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to present you with the Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates. Congratulations!
Kellianne Kornick
For a new cross-disciplinary course, Writing Through Thinking about Time, the faculty needed a unique teaching fellow—one who was knowledgeable in physics and writing and capable of teaching a workshop-style class. Kellianne Kornick met all those requirements, and more. As Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics, noted in her nomination, “Kellianne stands out among [fellow] excellent students in having a bigger, clearer picture of how science is aided by writing, and how writing allows us to discover what we think about scientific concepts.”
Kornick, who studies both philosophy and physics, explored theories of special and general relativity, orbital dynamics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and more with students, pushing the boundaries of what they thought they knew. Video and visual art objects combined with science lessons to deepen consideration and challenge assumptions.
Calling her colleague “a remarkable teacher and scholar,” co-instructor Claire Messud says the course simply wouldn’t have been possible, much less successful, without Kornick, whose “input was exceptional at every stage.”
“Brilliant, generous, meticulous, indefatigable: Kellianne was integral to the shaping of the course, and even more so to its teaching,” wrote Messud. “She not only knows the material thoroughly, she is a dedicated and innovative teacher, beloved by her students.”
Messud’s assertions bear themselves out in Q reports described as “off the charts.” One noted, “She is a kind and helpful instructor, frequently offering extra office hours for students and taking time out of her day to help workshop ideas with us about our prompts and leaving detailed comments on our submissions.” (Kornick offered additional office hours in the Science Center during the period when writing expanded, providing a space where students could discuss their work both one-on-one and in a small group.) Another added that they appreciated her “detailed, thoughtful, and very useful feedback on written assignments,” while another simply described Kornick as “one of the most brilliant people I have met at this school, and that is saying something.”
Kellianne Kornick, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to present you with the Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates. Congratulations!
Alexander Vega
With a pedagogy described as “effective, entertaining, and inspiring,” Alexander Vega has cemented a reputation among students and faculty alike for his unorthodox approach to learning within the Department of the Classics. “The evaluations for his sections are uniformly superlative,” said Naomi Weiss, director of undergraduate studies and professor of the classics, in her nomination. “Several students say he is the best teaching fellow (TF) they have ever had.”
Vega served as a TF for several courses that required a range of pedagogical skills. In a large course on ancient Greece and Rome, Vega led discussion sections with students who had no background in the topic. He has also taught intimate courses with only 11 students, preparing them for intermediate and advanced study of Latin. Moreover, Vega was a dedicated advocate for students regardless of course size or students’ level of knowledge. Professor Rachel Love describes him as someone who “invariably went the extra mile to make sure [students’] needs were met.”
“Sometimes that meant having to schedule office hours or proctor make-up quizzes at unreasonable hours,” she says, “and other times that meant giving students one-on-one attention to help them on a difficult assignment or guide them through a complicated administrative process. None of this was ever expected or requested of Alex. His teaching is motivated by a profound commitment to his students and a sincere desire to see them do the very best they can.”
Vega’s enthusiasm shone through during one particular section he taught while wearing only one shoe to illustrate a story about the Greek hero, Jason. Students appreciated his lighthearted and imaginative approach with one evaluator noting, “he’s so passionate, kind, works so hard to make section fun, [and] has the craziest puns.”
Ivy Livingston, senior preceptor in ancient Greek and classical Latin, notes that Vega “is deeply concerned with the success of every student, [and] truly excels at creating effective learning experiences, using a wide variety of techniques ranging from Socratic dialogue to games and role-playing. He adds elements of fun unpredictability to even basic activities, for example, by creating practice sentences based on random words suggested by the class.”
Vega was also an important influence as a mentor in the Harvard Classics Scholars-in-Training Summer Program last year. Working with college and high school students studying ancient Greek and Latin language or ancient Greek history and culture, Vega led many activities and demonstrated his characteristic warmth, pedagogical creativity, and organizational skill.
Alexander Vega, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to present you with the Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates. Congratulations!
Yinan Wang
Though only at the start of her teaching career, Yinan Wang has already established herself as a standout contributor to the undergraduate sociology program. Occupying the three most important teaching and mentoring roles in the department—teaching fellow (TF), concentration advisor, and thesis advisor—Wang approaches each with dedication.
“It was immediately evident that she devoted serious attention to preparing section lesson plans and was committed to learning about the craft of teaching from her profession,” wrote Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in Sociology Emily Fairchild, in her nomination. For example, Wang was asked to play the role of teaching fellow in a training exercise for new TFs. She embraced the task, fully inhabiting her persona and delivering a professional, engaging lesson that used visual aids and a mix of lecture-like presentation and give-and-take with the audience.
Wang is also distinguished by her ability to build community and prioritize quality interactions with her students, professors, and peers alike as they navigate challenges in and out of sections. When one student experienced a sudden loss, Wang provided support and resources, checking in with them periodically and approaching the situation with tact and grace during class.
Additionally, Wang led a section in the Refugee course in the fall of 2023, during the Gaza war and ensuing turmoil on campus. As Associate Senior Lecturer on Sociology Danilo Mandić describes, the course “features extensive material on US militarism, Jewish refugees and the Holocaust, and the Palestinian refugee question. Controversy was inevitable. On practically a weekly basis, Wang had to deal with emotionally charged and politically sensitive material without excluding minority opinions, offending students whose families were in life-and-death peril, or being stigmatized as herself biased as a section head.” Wang’s students offered equal praise in their evaluations, an admirable accomplishment during such a tumultuous moment.
“[Wang] was an unbeatable thought partner for me,” writes course leader Professor Emily Handsman. “It was the first time I taught the course, and she took notes on what went well, what elements of lectures could be clearer, and brainstormed with me about ways to improve the course. Working with her improved my own teaching practice as I got to collaborate with such a bright, determined graduate student.”
Wang brings that same reliability, professionalism, and commitment to her work as a concentration advisor, acting as the primary contact for nearly 40 students across three houses, guiding them through course selection, and advising them on planning their time at Harvard. Whenever a student needs her, Wang is there.
Yinan Wang, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to present you with the Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates. Congratulations!
Banner photo by Ricardo Lopez
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