From The Spectrum, April 13, 2007

Manchester masters the art of keeping students engaged

One graduate called her "an engaging professor with an amazing passion for what she does," while another noted "she made history come alive."

These kudos were given to Dr. Margaret M. Manchester '83G, assistant professor of history and director of the American Studies Program, during the process through which she was named the winner of the 2006-07 Joseph R. Accinno Faculty Teaching Award. 

Manchester was announced as the award recipient during the Spring Faculty and Staff Meeting on March 28 by Dr. Joan R. Branham, chair of the Teaching Award Selection Committee, associate professor of art history, and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

The award's multi-phase nomination process includes the solicitation of nominations and comments from faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

"One graduate wrote, 'Dr. Manchester is an engaging professor with an amazing passion for what she does. . . . I have moved on from PC, and am now in a master's program at Boston College, but Professor Manchester is still the standard by which I measure all of my classroom experiences,'" related Branham during the meeting.

She continued, "And another alum wrote, 'Dr. Manchester made history come alive . . . . One of the biggest compliments I could give her is that she inspired me to become a teacher. After taking her classes. . . three years later, I am teaching American History 1877 - Present to 150 middle school students in Fairfax County, Virginia. I often find myself trying to create lessons using the knowledge and examples that I learned in Dr. Manchester's class. . . . She is a prime example of a life-long learner and teacher who truly has made a difference in the lives of her students.'"

Later, Branham said the teaching award benefits all faculty, as it provides "a clear and positive message that this school values teaching, and . . . that all faculty are doing something of deep value."

Enhancing students' learning
In a subsequent interview, Manchester said she is "honored and humbled, honestly, to win this award. It's gratifying to know that my students-and former students-nominated me. Winning the award compels you to improve even more. It makes you want to be more innovative and hands-on."

As one who strives to use technology in creative ways to enhance student learning, Manchester said she shows pertinent images, film clips, and primary sources in her lectures through PowerPoint presentations and other means.

"Also, with the availability of ANGEL, we can have students do pre-class assignments," she said, mentioning a pre-class assignment in which students were asked to look at World War II posters that were designed to involve women in the war effort. "I then asked students to use them to make predictions regarding the war and its impact on women."

"I think these pre-and post-class assignments have invigorated the classroom experience," added Manchester. "The students are more prepared."

As one who is always working toward the "active engagement" of her students, she said, "Through use of primary source documents, students write, act, interpret, and discuss their meaning in terms of their own past so they can make informed decisions about the future. If you do not understand where you came from, you will not understand who you are or where you are going."

Teaching enhanced by immigration
"Where" she came from has inspired her teaching, she said. Born in Hungary, Manchester is an immigrant to the U.S., as were so many of the people she and her students study during their look at the American experience.

"My family came here because of the Hungarian Revolution, which began in 1956," she said. Because of the years-long waiting list for people who wanted to leave, "we were not able to come to the U.S. until 1960."

With still-vivid memories of this exodus, Manchester said, "Being an immigrant who came here as a young kid with a memory of my family experiencing Communist oppression, I value democratic values, which infuses my teaching as well."

A member of the Committee on Administration, the Core Curriculum Review Committee, the Faculty Senate, and the Global Studies Advisory Committee, Manchester said she helps to promote the mission of the Department of History-and of the College-through her committee work and with her coursework, where she focuses on the study of the diversity of experience within the American context. She said her work as director of American Studies has also fostered appreciation for diversity through programming and curriculum development.

"In class we talk not just about political facts and dates, but about race, class, gender, and ethnicity, and use them as analytical tools," she explained. "It's designed to help students formulate a 'usable past.'"

Manchester also explores these aspects of diversity as one of a number of faculty members who teach within the College's Women's Studies Program.

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