Laurialan Reitzammer
2019 CAMWS Award for
Excellence in College Teaching
Laurialan Reitzammer earned her B.A. in Comparative Literature at Brown University, a Post-Baccalaureate degree from UCLA, and her M.A. in Greek and Ph.D. in Classics from the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2008 she has served first as an Assistant Professor and then as an Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
At UC Boulder, Lauri teaches a wide range of courses including Greek language and literature at all levels, classes on Greek and Roman literature and classical myth taught in translation, and undergraduate and graduate seminars on Greek religion and gender studies. In addition, she frequently takes on independent studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, has advised or served on committees for undergraduate honors and graduate theses, and has served as the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and on the board of the Faculty Teaching Excellence Program. She also serves her discipline more broadly as a member of the Pearson Fellowship Committee for the SCS and of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Her colleagues praise her for “her attention to detail, her responsiveness and her whole-hearted care for the students and all their concerns … She always takes on more than she need, to the great advantage of our students.”
One of Lauri’s many strength lies in developing innovative courses, such as a First-Year Seminar on “Immigrants and Refugees in Literature and Culture” and the cross-cultural course, “Gods and Monsters: the Greek and Hindu Epics,” as well as in creating learning spaces outside of the traditional classroom. Early in her career she taught Classics classes to inmates of San Quentin prison in California, and more recently she has developed an entirely online Beginning Greek course, which allows students to take remotely the first year of Greek over the summer and progress onto reading courses in the fall. One colleague describes her as “not only adept but outright virtuosic in multiple areas of teaching: impact on student intellectual development, evidence of student engagement, mentoring of other faculty or teaching assistants, enriching the scholarship of teaching and learning, development of new curricula, new courses, etc., and advocacy for excellence in teaching at CU Boulder.”
Her students attest to her abilities within the classroom. In the words of two students, “She is an exceptional teacher and advisor, with great skill at encouraging and supporting students.” “She holds herself responsible for the fulfillment of her demands and expends a great deal of time and energy outside of class and office hours to ensure the success of those that are willing to do the same.” Yet Lauri does not see her role as teacher as ending with the conclusion of an individual course. As one student describes, “Professor Reitzammer has an enormous and ongoing impact on her students. I have been out of college for a year now, but I still use the writing skills she pushed me to develop on a daily basis … Moreover, Professor Reitzammer continues to teach me new things about Classics and to push me to develop as a scholar; just this week, she sent me an article regarding a question I had in her class some years ago. She truly encourages lifelong learning, and she both sparks and nurtures a passion for Classics and academic excellence in her students.”
The Committee is honored to award Laurialan Reitzammer the 2019 CAMWS Award for Excellence in College Teaching.