Professor Claire Arcenas Wins Prestigious Teaching Award

The University of Montana Department of History is thrilled to announce that Professor Claire Arcenas is the winner of the UM College of Humanities and Sciences's 2023 Helen and Winston Cox Educational Award! This prestigious award is the highest teaching honor a junior faculty member in the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) can receive.

Professor Arcenas is a historian of early America and United States intellectual history. She offers a range of rigorous courses from introductory surveys of early American history to graduate-level research and writing seminars. Her American Revolution and the Founding Era and History of American Thought to 1865 have become cornerstones of History's curriculum as has her advanced research and writing course, Freedom, Slavery, Equality. In each setting, she challenges students to become historians by becoming better critical thinkers, analytical writers, and public speakers. 

In his commendation, CHS Dean Matt Semanoff wrote, "This award recognizes achievement in teaching, advising and mentoring, accessibility to students, scholarly and professional activity as well as campus/community service. Professor Arcenas's accomplishments in all of these categories are truly remarkable. From the innovative ways that Claire helps students learn to appreciate various historical perspectives through immersive role play, to guiding students towards presenting their research findings at conferences, to establishing a summer program that will help recruit the next generation of UM students, the impact of Claire's dedication to our students' academic opportunities is extraordinary. We are fortunate to count Professor Arcenas among the exceptional faculty of H&S."

According to Professor Kyle Volk, chair of the History Department, history comes alive in Professor Arcenas's classrooms. "Whether in the large lecture hall or the small seminar," he notes, "Claire effortlessly makes her insatiable curiosity and joy of historical discovery contagious." He continues, "Professor Arcenas is emblematic of what makes a superb university professor---a brilliant scholar, a selfless member of the campus community, an oustanding teacher, and a dedicated mentor. Our department's commitment to rigorous teaching and student success is made that much stronger by the work of Professor Arcenas."

Congratulations Professor Arcenas!