Dawn Odell Named 2024 Teacher of the Year

Dawn Odell teaches courses on early modern European and East Asian art, including classes that explore the history of Buddhist art, urban experience in late imperial China, reality effects in seventeenth-century European art, and relationships between art and imperialism. Odell’s research focuses on the exchange of objects and artist practices between China and northern Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

“She is not just a teacher, but a mentor, a guide and a source of inspiration,” Art History Major Cadyn Schenk-Turner BA ’26 said. “I have had the privilege of being in Dawn’s classroom many times, and I can attest to the profound impact she’s had on my own academic and personal growth. Quite simply, Dawn embodies the very best of what it means to be an educator, a scholar, and above all a compassionate human being. Her relentless pursuit of knowledge and her genuine care for her students sets a standard we should all aspire to emulate.”

Each year, the Pamplin Society of Fellows, Lewis & Clark’s undergraduate honors society, bestows the Teacher of the Year Award to one professor. This award aims to honor undergraduate faculty members that go above and beyond the duties of their position to enrich student learning.

This year, the finalists for the award included:

• Jennifer Hubbert - Sociology and Anthropology
• Sidra Kamran - Sociology and Anthropology
• Benjamin Mann - Rhetoric and Media Studies
• Dawn Odell - Art History

This award is entirely driven in all aspects by undergraduate students. A call is issued in early March for students at the college to write nomination letters for faculty members that have played a dynamic role in students’ academic lives. These letters are then reviewed by a selection committee composed entirely of students.