Posted by vrcvanderbilt on Monday, April 9, 2018 in Events, HART, News, Vanderbilt University, VRC.

Sheri Shaneyfelt, principal senior lecturer in the history of art, was among six Vanderbilt academic leaders honored by Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos at the April 5 Spring Faculty Assembly with awards recognizing their teaching, research, service and commitment to diversity. Shaneyfelt received the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching—a cash prize of $5,000 and an engraved pewter Washington Camp Cup.

Her letter of support reads: “Her popularity stems from the fact that she works very hard to make her expectations for student performance clear, provides students the support they need to meet those expectations, and generally supports student success in every way possible.”

A specialist in Italian Renaissance Art, she also teaches courses in Northern European Renaissance and in Western European Baroque Art. Described as a dedicated and beloved undergraduate teacher, she is deeply devoted to mentoring students in her role as director of undergraduate studies. Shaneyfelt regularly receives near-perfect course evaluations, and her classes are always oversubscribed.

She also maintains an active research agenda in Italian Renaissance art, with a focus on Renaissance Umbria, particularly the Società del 1496, the school of Pietro Perugino, and painting and workshop practices in the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, including Perugino and the early Raphael, and the artists Giannicola di Paolo and Eusebio da San Giorgio.

Nominations for the Ingalls Award are made by the undergraduates based on the nominee’s concern for an individual student’s learning, the organization and engagement of classroom presentation, the clarity and fairness of criteria for awarding grades, and accessibility and helpfulness outside of class. The chancellor makes the final selection from these undergraduate nominations.

 *Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos, Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching recipient Sheri Shaneyfelt, and Faculty Senate Chair Geoffrey Fleming. (Photo courtesy Joe Howell/Vanderbilt News Services)