University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education January 3, 2017 Dean Twyning, write in support of Dr. Michael Tillotson’s Tina and David Ballet Teaching Excellence Award nomination. I had the opportunity to directly observe Dr. Tillotson’s teaching and syllabus during the Fall 2016 semester. I also note Dr. Tillotson’s national reputation for pedagogical innovation and curriculum development, as evidenced by his record of publication and emerging centrality to discussions of how Africana Studies is taught in institutions of higher education. T observed Dr. Tillotson teaching AFRCNA 0031: Introduction to Africana Studies. It ‘was immediately clear that there were multiple ways for students to be heard in the classroom space. Dr. Tillotson opened class reading students” essay responses to a recent exam. He then traced the development of individual students” thinking over the course of the semester. This strategy celebrated students’ growth while foreshadowing key themes of the forthcoming discussion. As the class progressed, student comments were interwoven with carefully chosen primary and secondary sources, in ways that put the students in conversation with leading historians, philosophers, and political scientists in Africana Studies. Dr. Tillotson has established an exceptional rapport with his students. They felt comfortable voicing opinions, asking questions, and even approaching the board to collaboratively work out answers in front of their peers. He allowed considerable space for engagement with prior knowledge, and was comfortable with the silence that ‘accompanies deep thinking. I was also impressed with the ways in which he pushed them beyond the ‘correct’ answer to complex interpretations of the historical and philosophical issues in which events took place. This supported Dr. Tillotson’s frequent implication that class content connected to current conditions, and would help to support critical citizenship and civic engagement. Internationally, scholars and practitioners in Africana Studies are answering difficult, questions about the future of the field, Dr. Tillotson is on the forefront of developing, answers to many of these questions. In 2014, he published “Teaching Introduction to Africana Studies: Sustaining a Disciplinary Focus” in the Journal of Black Studies. It is one of the first peer-reviewed articles to address issues of pedagogy in the field, and is currently used in leading Africana Studies programs, including Temple University, SUNY Albany and San Francisco State University. In 2016, Dr. Tillotson was elected to the board of directors of the National Council of Black Studies, where he currently co- chairs the curriculum committee.It is easy to spot one of Dr. Tillotson’s past students in my Masters’ level courses. They radiate the same energy and intellectual curiousity about history, identity, and human rights movements that he demonstrates in his teaching and scholarship. Dr. Tillotson’s commitment to teaching excellence is clear, and extends far beyond the University of Pittsburgh. I highly recommend him for the 2017 Tina and David Ballet Teaching Excellence Award. Ashley N. Woodson Assistant Professor Center for Urban Education University of Pittsburgh