Associate Professor of Sociology
July 28, 2021
Shawnee State University has announced the 2021 Faculty Awards. As part of this year’s presentation, the recipient of the Board of Trustees Distinguished Teaching Award is Dr. Sean Dunne. An Associate Professor of Sociology, Dr. Dunne has been with the university’s Department of Social Sciences since 2013.
“Dr. Dunne has made a significant impact on his students and especially on the community,” SSU President Jeff Bauer said. “He provides his students with the most meaningful educational experiences both inside and outside of the classroom.”
At SSU, Dr. Dunne has encouraged his students to be active in both campus activities and community development. His students have conducted and presented original research of the surrounding area at the annual North Central Sociological association. He also founded a chapter of the Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Honor Society of Sociology, at SSU, in which his students won Chapter of the Year in a national competition in their first year on campus based upon their scholarship and service to the community and the university.
Dr. Dunne has collaborated with students to work on a number of community development projects, including work on the restoration of Spartan Municipal Stadium, the funding for the Portsmouth Skatepark Project, and the Spock Memorial Dog Park. He has used these experiences to teach students about sociology and social theory, while also encouraging students to develop a variety of applied skills that they develop through their work.
Inside his classroom, Dr. Dunne fosters creativity and scholarship interpretation among his students, encouraging his classes to study different sociologists and social theorists while also developing new course work within his degree field to offer new opportunities to his students. He has invited several guest speakers into his classroom to connect his students with people, topics, and experiences outside the traditional classroom setting.
The SSU Board of Trustees Distinguished Teaching Award is presented to an instructor who makes a significant impact on their students by engaging with them in a meaningful way while providing excellent teaching and contributions to higher education.