Everyone remembers the “one” – the teacher who changed their whole way of thinking; the educator who stood out as the most inspirational teacher they’d ever had; the mentor so motivating, so enthusiastic, so engaging that the whole class would sit up and take notice – that one lecturer who instilled a sense of school pride and accomplishment.
Once again, TVO is asking students and alumni from Ontario’s post-secondary schools to take part in the Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition and make their school proud.
Sponsored by TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, nominations for the Best Lecturer Competition will be accepted from September 8 through to October 12, 2008.
Big Ideas is TVO’s popular televised lecture series, offering lectures on a variety of thought-provoking topics which range across politics, culture, economics, art history and science.
Created to recognize the best and brightest lecturers at Ontario’s colleges and universities, the Best Lecturer Competition invites Ontarians to nominate professors whose love of learning has helped to stimulate imaginations, open eyes and push boundaries in institutions of higher learning across the province.
“We at TVO abide by the belief that knowledge matters greatly. At times of rapid and often unsettling change, the role of compelling teachers cannot be underestimated”, says Big Ideas producer Wodek Szemberg, in a release.
“For the past three years, the success of the Best Lecturer Competition series has demonstrated that our viewers are truly engaged with this competition, and feel the need to recognize and reward the lecturers who display their love of knowledge and the pleasure they take in conveying it.”
To spur on some friendly competition between university and college campuses, TVO has upped the ante, offering not only much deserved recognition and bragging rights to the winner, but also presenting a $10,000 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex scholarship to the winning school.
As an added incentive to support one’s school, nominators will automatically be entered into a contest to win one of 2 iPod touch devices.
Students and alumni can nominate in one of two ways: by emailing [email protected] with the subject line “BL 2009 Nomination” and including in the body the full name of the professor, the University/College and department where they teach, a short description (between 50 and 100 words) detailing the reason(s) a professor should be nominated as Best Lecturer, and the full name, email, address and telephone number of the person submitting the nomination.
Secondly, participants can nominate through his or her mobile device by texting PROF to 333111. After submitting the nomination form, a TVO producer may respond by email for more details.
Last year, Professor Christopher diCarlo took home the title of Ontario’s Best Lecturer, garnering the $10,000 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex scholarship for the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa.
This year, a panel of judges will choose 10 finalists from the nominee list who will then be invited to deliver complete lectures on Big Ideas beginning Feb. 28th 2009. Viewers will be invited to grade each of the finalists and cast their vote for Ontario’s next Best Lecturer.
For complete entry details, please visit tvo.org.
