Suarez
“I immediately noticed an energy…that was quickly passed along to her students. Class discussion and participation were at a higher level than any other I had experienced in college.” —Maureen Carolin, former student |
Lieber Memorial Teaching Associate
Award
With her inimitable mixture of keen sociological observation, ambitious intellectual goals and deep empathy for those on society’s margins, Alicia Suarez inspires her students to question and explore social issues in new and challenging ways.
Whether Suarez is teaching Sexual Diversity; Deviant Behavior and Social Control; Field Experiences in Sociology; or Introduction to Sociology, her innovative teaching style is all her own—part instinct, part craft and part thinking from the student perspective. Using guest speakers and examples from film, music and other current media, she helps students connect with the material. Suarez breaks large lectures into small discussions, encouraging students to formulate their own opinions about the most taboo subjects in a mature, respectful manner.
“Before her class, when I did not think about these issues, I had neither the resources to research and understand them, nor the language to discuss them. However, her class awakened in me an understanding and realization about the world. That understanding has carried over into many of my other classes at Indiana University,” noted one of her many students.
In spite of toiling on her doctoral dissertation (“So How Did You Get That?”: Experiences of Individuals Living with Hepatitis C Virus), Suarez makes time for students after regular office hours, encouraging, mentoring and promoting internships and extra-credit field assignments.
She consistently receives high marks and honors on student and faculty evaluations, and, in 2003, earned the Department of Sociology’s Edwin Sutherland Award for Outstanding Teaching. To develop her teaching skills, Suarez has utilized every available resource in the department and even gone off campus to shadow Professor Rebecca Bordt at DePauw University. “Alicia ranks among the top three AIs I have observed over my dozen years here at IU,” noted Brian Powell, Grimshaw Professor of sociology at IUB.
|
