MARSHA L. LANDOLT DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE MENTOR AWARD
Since arriving at the University of Washington in 1982, Professor Sandra "Sandy" Silberstein has chaired to completion 13 dissertations on a range of topics, from ethnographic studies of classrooms, to longitudinal studies of national language policy, to a study of Iran’s “Twitter revolution” and the rhetoric of nonviolence within the Occupy Movement. In addition, she currently chairs nine dissertation committees, with four of those students scheduled to defend during spring quarter 2016. But those numbers only begin to tell the story.
Sandy has directed the master’s in teaching English to speakers of other languages (MATESOL) program for two decades. She also has created and developed the MATESOL Practicum, a two-quarter pedagogy course, during which novice teachers shadow experienced ones and meet regularly with a professor to discuss best practices in TESOL pedagogy. The MATESOL program is highly diverse and Sandy, in her role as mentor, has worked with a very broad range of students.
Students find her to be extraordinarily welcoming, sensitive, and supportive, and extra-alert to the linguistic, cultural, and other challenges that students from international and nontraditional backgrounds face in the American academy. We heartily congratulate Dr. Silberstein for winning the 2016 Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award.
