The Ditz Prize for excellence in Teaching is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding teaching on the part of a graduate student either in a DTF course of their own design, or for their role as a TA. 

This year the department is very pleased to present the Ditz Prize to Malaurie Pilatte, who taught a DTF course this past spring entitled “Paris Noire: Black American Women in the City of Light.” Malaurie’s students praised her “outstanding teaching” on a “fascinating and understudied topic.” Through her syllabus and careful teaching, she introduced students to critical approaches to history, art history, literary criticism and performance studies in rigorous and engaging ways. Students especially appreciated her emphasis on close-reading and discussion, her enthusiasm and engagement, and her support of digital projects, and her inclusion of students in broader scholarly conversations, all of which brought the subject and our discipline alive.