Prize for excellence in teaching for Katharina Oft
The Prize for Excellence in Teaching is awarded by the Bavarian Ministry of Science and the Arts in recognition of outstanding dedication and teaching of an excellent quality. Among this year’s prize winners is classicist Katharina Oft from the Chair of Classical Philology: congratulations!
The research associate is currently writing her dissertation on Claudian, a late antique poet, and his Roman Gigantomachy. She is analyzing this poem against the background of the literary tradition and the political and historical works of the late antique author.
“It is a very specialized area of research, of course,” she says and laughs. Her lectures and seminars deal with a slightly wider field: “Of course, studying Latin involves a lot of translations and in seminars we examine various texts, authors and topics from a wide variety of perspectives. There are repeated opportunities to integrate my research into my teaching. For example, next semester I am offering a seminar about the poet Claudian.”
Responding to the individual needs of her students is particularly important to Katharina Oft: “My students are often involved in designing seminars”, she says. “I draw up a rough plan beforehand of what I would like to do and discuss it with my students at the beginning of the semester.” She then adapts her teaching plan to meet the needs of her students as far as possible. She also takes the time during the semester to find out if any new topics have come up. This is possible in particular due to the size of the degree program. “I am mainly responsible for seminars that have around 15 to 20 students. This makes it quite easy to cater to their individual needs.” Katharina Oft also provides support to her students beyond the scope of her seminars by providing suggestions for further reading, for example.
Often, she accompanies students over the course of their entire degree program: “The State Examination in Latin took place last week and there were students taking it who were in my very first seminar when I started teaching six years ago. It’s great to see how students have developed. You could say that we’ve grown together.” Unfortunately Katharina Oft could not take part in the awards ceremony as she is currently on a field trip to Rome with some students.
About the Prize for Excellence in Teaching
Every year, FAU nominates two members of its teaching staff for the Prize for Excellence in Teaching awarded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts. The Students’ Representatives select the candidates that the President of the University then nominates. The prize honors the work of the best teachers at state universities in Bavaria and is worth 5000 euros. Teaching staff who have demonstrated excellence in teaching for at least two academic years at a university in Bavaria are eligible to be nominated for the prize.
Further information
Katharina Oft
katharina.oft@fau.de