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The College of Arts & Sciences is delighted to announce Dr. Richard Clark, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, as the recipient of this year’s Lucrezia Culicchia Award for Teaching Excellence. Professor Clark first joined ¿Û¿Û´«Ã½ in 1995 and has had a most impressive career as an educator. It is remarkable how much Dr. Clark has worked outside the classroom to create transformative learning opportunities for our students. For example, he was one of the authors of the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program, getting it onto a firm foundation by serving as Director for its first six years. He hosted the ¿Û¿Û´«Ã½ Human Rights Film Festival for seven years. He helped launch the Northern Ireland Peacebuilding Program and then led trips to Northern Ireland for ten years.

Dr. Clark also extended the reach of learning opportunities by consistently collaborating within Jesuit and higher education networks. For example, he brought the Jesuit University Humanity Action Networks international conference to our campus. He similarly organized the Climate Change World-Wide Teach-In, staging panels here on campus, while engaging our students with virtual sessions on other campuses. He has organized multiple Jesuit Refugee Services Advocacy Day opportunities, enabling our students to communicate both in-person and online with members of Congress about pressing human rights problems.

In the last few years, Professor Clark has dedicated particular energy to building the Inside/Out Prison Exchange Program. Partnering ¿Û¿Û´«Ã½ with the Northeast Ohio Reintegration Center, Prof. Clark, along with Prof. Malia McAndrew, has been teaching classes to a shared audience of incarcerated and traditional ¿Û¿Û´«Ã½ students. Dr. Rodney Hessinger, interim Dean of the CAS, expresses his support for this initiative: 

Having witnessed these classes in action myself, I can attest that they are profoundly transformative for both groups of students. One student testifies: ‘Education has the ability to empower, create vulnerabilities, and bring people together. This class did all three. The sharing of our stories creates a common humanity that is essential to social change.’ Having reviewed Dr. Clark’s teaching record more generally, I think this sentiment neatly encapsulates Rich’s approach to teaching in most any venue he enters.

Please join the College of Arts & Sciences in congratulating Dr. Clark for this most deserved achievement and for his dedication on the ¿Û¿Û´«Ã½ faculty!

Past recipients of the Culicchia Award can be seen here.