Undergraduate supervisions are one of the most important features of a Cambridge education and the Faculty of HSPS is keen to encourage and reward best practice for the provision of supervisions.
Each year, the Department of Sociology presents a Supervisor Award to a member of staff or postgraduate student who have excelled in providing supervisions to undergraduate students as part of the HSPS Tripos.
This year we received over 50 student nominations for 26 different supervisors, all of which made us proud of the teaching at the Department and grateful for the key contribution made by our supervisors.
The 2019-20 award has been won by Dr R Sánchez Rivera, who supervised an exceptional number of students this year, across 8 different undergraduate papers. Rachell’s nominations stood out for the way they developed students’ understandings of the topics at hand, facilitated a supportive learning environment, and challenged students to consider their arguments from different perspectives.
In the words of one student: “As a true sociologist, [Rachell] doesn't shy away from topics and issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, systemic racism, and colonialism, fully accepting and recognising the importance for students to learn and comment on these pressing issues today”
We would also like to congratulate Rachell on receiving a position as a Postdoc at the Department of Sociology, who will be a very welcome addition to the team!
A special commendation for this award goes to Gavin Stevenson, who once again received heaps of praise from grateful students for his consistent and reliable support and encouragement throughout their time at Cambridge.
Honourable mentions also go to Eliran Bar-El and Thomas Roulet, both of whom were praised for being exceptionally inspiring and engaging supervisors.
The Department would like to thank all of the undergraduate students for their nominations, as well as the supervisors for all their work to make teaching at the Department what it is today. Students can provide additional paper-specific feedback on teaching received in Lent and Easter term 2020 via the following survey link.
Previous winners:
2018-19 Sarah Kolopp
2017-18 Gavin Stevenson
2016-17 Gavin Stevenson
