When ‘Everyone in the Room Is Learning’

Research & Inquiry

Smith College faculty recipients of this year’s Sherrerd Teaching Prizes share some lessons from the classroom

Photo by Jessica Scranton

BY BARBARA SOLOW

Published May 22, 2026

What does excellent teaching look like?

At Smith, the answer is personified by recipients of the college’s annual Kathleen Compton Sherrerd ’54 and John J.F. Sherrerd Prizes for Distinguished Teaching. Faculty selected for the 2026 prizes are:

Kelly Anderson, senior lecturer in the study of women, gender and sexuality; a member of the Smith faculty since 2008.
Anna Mwaba ’10, assistant professor of government; a member of the faculty since 2018.
Sujane Wu, professor of East Asian languages and cultures; a member of the faculty since 2005.

All three are considered educators who help students feel seen and heard—the type of professors who “always have a line of students outside their office door,” as one nominator said.

The Sherrerd awards were established in 2002 to recognize exceptional teaching by longtime faculty members, and encourage younger faculty who display outstanding skill in fostering learning. Smith will celebrate this year’s honorees at a ceremony on campus on Thursday, October 22.

Anderson, Mwaba, and Wu followed different paths to becoming educators.

Anderson was working as an oral historian in Smith College Special Collections—“a job I absolutely loved,” she says—when she was offered a one-year teaching position at another college. That experience inspired her to finish her Ph.D. and incorporate teaching into her work in Special Collections.

Mwaba’s grandparents were both teachers, but she didn’t think she would become one until after graduate school, when she was offered a chance to teach a class on Africa in international relations at Smith. “That experience shifted everything for me,” she says.

Wu grew up in a rural village in Taiwan where there were few resources, but the local teachers supported and inspired her. “To me, the best way to express that gratitude was to become an educator myself, providing that same support and opportunities for the next generation,” she says.

We asked each of the three faculty honorees to describe a teachable moment, either one they have experienced directly, or have shared with their students. Here’s what they had to say:

Kelly Anderson

Senior Lecturer in the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality

“I remember being in college classrooms and feeling lost—like my (very good) education until that point had not been enough to prepare me for advanced learning or to survive in this world. I had not been exposed to the literatures, histories, or cultures that provided the context for a livable life. I was furious that I was so unprepared, intellectually and politically.

“I think that experience shaped the kind of historian and educator that I am. I’m sensitive to the fact that we arrive to the classroom from various backgrounds and haven’t all had access to the same materials, viewpoints, or opportunities.

“Additionally, I want to support my students in discovering a usable past, one that is empowering and relevant for our current context. To that end, in my classes we collect the stories that are discarded or unnoticed and create new narratives that feel essential to the public good.

“I’ve learned from Smith students that they are more than capable of rising to meet any intellectual challenge—whether that’s doing research in archives, working with complex technologies, or creating top-notch public-facing work. Some of our assignments at Smith would typically be considered graduate-level—I’m thinking of the theses or capstone projects I’ve advised, or the invaluable oral histories my students collect for Special Collections. Smith students are truly our collaborators who shape classroom learning but also make significant intellectual contributions in their own right. I have learned to set the bar high!”

Anna Mwaba ’10

Assistant Professor of Government

“In my courses, particularly in African politics, students often arrive with narratives shaped by media, textbooks, or prior coursework. One of the most meaningful parts of teaching for me is creating the conditions where those assumptions can be examined and challenged. When a student says, ‘I hadn’t thought about it that way,’ it signals a shift from simply absorbing information to actively interrogating it.

“Early in my teaching, I realized that even when I felt well prepared, certain readings, activities, or assessments were not producing the kind of learning I hoped to see. Instead of pushing through with the course as planned, I began to rethink those aspects of my teaching.

“One example is when I redesigned a course after noticing that traditional exams were encouraging memorization more than deeper engagement. I replaced them with scaffolded assignments that broke the research process into stages, allowing students to develop ideas over time and receive feedback throughout the semester. Rather than treating research as a single high-stakes task, students could refine their thinking incrementally and take greater intellectual risks. I came to understand that preparation matters, but responsiveness matters just as much.

“There are many lessons I have learned from my students, but the one that stands out most is their resilience. Students consistently navigate demanding academic expectations while managing complex, often unseen challenges, and they continue to show up for one another and for the work with remarkable care and commitment. They remind me that teaching is not only about what I bring into the classroom, but also about what I learn from the students in it.”

Sujane Wu

Professor of East Asian Languages & Cultures

“I believe an educator must also be a lifelong learner. I truly enjoy gaining new insights from my students’ diverse perspectives, both inside and outside the classroom. To me, the teaching-learning relationship is like a glass of water that remains half-filled: there is always room for fresh water to be poured in, preventing the water/mind from becoming stagnant.

“Deciding when and how to share personal stories as a teacher can be tricky, but I find it necessary when students express anxiety about their future paths. I often share that my own journey to becoming a professor at Smith was not as smooth as they might imagine.

“I tell them that many things in life simply cannot be planned in advance. We have to embrace new opportunities, which often means taking the risks that come with them, and sometimes, those risks lead to failure. While the sting of failure hurts, I emphasize that we should be proud of the fact that we tried. By sharing my vulnerability, I hope to help my students see that success is rarely a straight line.

“My experience with limited resources taught me how to ‘connect dots’ that may seem unrelated at first glance. I believe this ability to find deeper connections is where creativity is born.

“I particularly value the moments when my students share their perspectives and make connections not only between our class materials and discussions, but across other courses they have taken. When students draw these meaningful connections across disciplines, I know that everyone in the room, myself included, is learning.”