Ron Levi receives 2022 Global Educator Award
Professor Ron Levi has been chosen to receive the 2022 U of T Global Educator Award. Awarded annually, the honour recognizes University of Toronto faculty members who demonstrate an ability to successfully operate and communicate within different cultural contexts through teaching methods that reflect a diversity of perspectives and invite engagement from all students. The recipient receives a cash prize of $3000 and is honoured at U of T’s annual Excellence in Teaching Reception.
Levi was chosen in part because of his “clear commitment to pedagogies that reflect a diversity of perspectives and invite engagement from all students—creating the conditions for a truly global learning environment,” said Alexie Tcheuyap, vice-provost & associate vice-president, International, who chaired this year’s selection committee.
“Professor Levi is a transformative educator who has shaped how we think about the field of global affairs, has helped to enhance the diversity of ideas and of our student body, and is a proven leader in the development of innovative opportunities for students,” says the Munk School’s Director, Peter Loewen. “He has been a leader in curriculum development and pedagogy since the Munk School was established. He has, more than anyone else, established the Munk School as a genuinely global public affairs institution.”
In addition to teaching at the Munk School and U of T’s Department of Sociology, Levi currently serves as Munk School’s associate director, academic and holds the title of Distinguished Professor of Global Justice at the University of Toronto. He is director of the Munk School’s Global Justice Lab (GJL), a hub for research and collaborative inquiry across many dimensions of justice. Among the teaching and learning initiatives for which he is being recognized with the Global Educator Award is Police Violence in Global Affairs, a graduate course that examined the role of violence in policing around the world and the ways local and national governments and NGOs try to change it. Levi co-taught the course with GJL colleague Todd Foglesong. “Ron’s courses are challenging, but they are also exciting and present an intellectual challenge,” says Ioana Sendroiu, a former student of Levi’s who will become an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong this summer. “His courses are not easy, but that means that he will push students to do their best work.”
Kerry Paterson, another of Levi’s former students who now serves as deputy director of Emergencies at the Committee to Protect Journalists, echoes Sendroiu’s sentiments. “Ron has a gift for creating learning environments that encourage curiosity and where students feel supported and empowered to ask questions and take intellectual risks,” she says. “He is a tireless advocate for his students, is endlessly energetic and is genuinely enthusiastic about engaging his students. He sets the standard for what an educator should be.”
Levi is the recipient of numerous academic awards both within and outside of the University. Among his more recent honours are U of T’s Dean’s Special Merit Award (which he has won a total of eight times) and the Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize. Levi was also awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques, an honour bestowed to him by the Government of France for his contributions to French education and culture. This is Levi’s first Global Educator Award.
