Dr Edward Howell wins Teaching Excellence Award for 2024
Dr Edward Howell has won a Teaching Excellence Award for 2024. Every year, the University’s Social Sciences Division honours its colleagues for ‘exceptional contributions to education’.
The Teaching Excellence Awards also recognise ‘innovative teaching practices’ and 'remarkable commitment’ demonstrated by colleagues at all career stages.
Teaching and research
A lecturer in Politics at Christ Church College, Edward teaches undergraduates and supervises students for the MPhil in International Relations. The subjects he teaches include Politics in China, and Politics: International Security and Conflict (as a special subject).
Edward emphasises an ‘iterative relationship’ between teaching and research, where each inspires the other. His research interests include the international relations and security of East Asia, the UK’s relations with East Asia, and US-East Asian relations. He published his book 'North Korea and the Global Nuclear Order' with Oxford University Press in 2023.
Edward’s philosophy for teaching and learning
As the Social Sciences website states, Edward’s goal when teaching is to inspire ‘the next generation of global citizens’ in and out of the classroom. His Teaching Excellence Award recognises his emphasis on the need for students to learn ‘how to think’, rather than what to think ‘. To help his students achieve this, he provides tailored reading lists and meticulous feedback on essays, while also encouraging them to ‘apply theoretical concepts to real-world situations’.
Paying tribute to his students in recognition of his award, Edward said:
"Central to a rigorous university education is that students learn how, and not what, to think. I am grateful to my students—to whom I dedicate this award—who have actively taken part in the collective endeavour of teaching and learning, in seeking to answer big and difficult questions through rigorous, reasoned, and evidence-based debate."
