Classics Professor Awarded for Excellence in Teaching

After 12 years of teaching at the University of Cincinnati, Professor Kathleen Lynch knows the importance of engaging students so they become an active part of the learning experience. Her strong teaching style has led to recognition from both the university and outside organizations. This year the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities, GCCCU, recognized Lynch with an award for Excellence in Teaching.

The Excellence in Teaching Award was created to recognize the top educators among Cincinnati’s 17 colleges and universities. The GCCCU’s mission is to promote excellence in higher education in the greater Cincinnati area. Each of the GCCCU member institutions can nominate one or two honorees during the annual Celebration of Teaching Awards Banquet. Professor Larry Gales, from the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, was also nominated for the award.

“It was a great honor to be acknowledged by this regional organization for my teaching,” Lynch said. “I sincerely appreciate the GCCCU’s support of excellence in teaching, which reminds us that a university is a place for educating students.”

Lynch states that in her undergraduate courses she enjoys when students are excited about a topic. This excitement is often a result of Lynch encouraging discussions among students, even in her larger classes.

“In graduate seminars on Greek archaeology, the students have often helped me see topics in new light, which in turn helps me develop my own research ideas,” Lynch said.

Some of Lynch’s research interests include Greek pottery, its iconography, cultural uses and meaning; Greek and Roman archaeology; Greek and Roman dining and drinking. Lynch has also worked on a number of archaeological sites in Italy, Greece, Albania, and Turkey. Additionally, Lynch recently had a book published by Cambridge University Press titled, “The Italic People of Ancient Apulia: New Evidence from Pottery for Workshops, Markets and Customs.”

“I have the great fortune to be a part of one of the strongest departments for the study of ancient Greece and Rome in the U.S., which means I have terrific colleagues and excellent students,” Lynch said. “I have had the support and freedom to develop my research, and teaching outstanding students, especially our graduate students, has helped me to become a better teacher.”

Lynch’s teaching was also recognized when she won the

UC Cohen Award

for Excellence in Teaching in 2014. Lynch’s book, “The Symposium in Context: Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora,” received the 2013

James R. Wiseman Award

for best book in archaeology from the Archaeological Institute of America.

“I believe that good teaching and good research go hand in hand, and so it is a tremendous honor to be recognized for both in the past couple years,” Lynch said.