Congratulations to RST Faculty members Meaghan O'Keefe and Wendy Terry for being awarded 2025 undergraduate teaching awards. Meaghan O'Keefe was awarded the Academic Senate 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching, and Wendy Terry was awarded the Academic Federation 2025 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award. We are thrilled to have them honored for their excellence in teaching.
Associate Professor Meaghan O’Keefe, Department of Religious Studies, College of Letters and Science
Professor Meaghan O’Keefe is an innovative and visionary leader. In 2023, she co-led the launch of the Medical Humanities Minor, equipping students to navigate medicine, bioethics, and healthcare globally. Two Religious Studies courses, RST 152 and RST 153, are among its core offerings. A scholar of contemporary North American Catholicism, she won the Mellon Foundation’s “New Directions” Fellowship in 2019, gaining expertise in law, policy, and religion. Her groundbreaking work has shaped UC Davis’ curriculum and inspired enthusiasm for the Medical Humanities, fostering student engagement and interdisciplinary learning.
Wendy Terry, Senior Continuing Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, College of Letters and Science
Dr. Wendy Terry is recognized for her exemplary teaching across an unusual range of classes—over 35 distinct courses since 2019. Course evaluations overwhelmingly confirm that Dr. Terry creates an academically rigorous classroom environment that students also describe as inspiring and deeply enjoyable. A colleague notes, “When I ask [students] if she’s tough, they fall all over themselves talking about how tough she is and how they learned about interpretation and argument.” Students commend Dr. Terry’s lucid lectures and how she encourages them to arrive at conclusions independently. They also celebrate Dr. Terry for nourishing “a sense of community” that extends past the boundaries of the classroom.
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