Five Arts and Humanities faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences, including Interim Associate Director Karl Whittington, have received 2016 Ronald and Deborah Ratner Distinguished Teaching Awards.

The Ratner Awards recognize faculty for making a difference in students' educations, lives and careers. Candidates are chosen for creative teaching and exemplary records of engaging, motivating and inspiring students. Each Ratner Award includes a $10,000 cash prize plus a $10,000 teaching account to fund future projects.

According to the awards committee, Karl Whittington is known for teaching an unusually wide array of courses within his department. Since coming to Ohio State in 2010, he has taught 14 different courses, some of which are specifically in his field of medieval art history, while others — such as Maps and Visual Culture or How Paintings Work — are more cross-cutting. A recipient of the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, he has been an innovative contributor both to undergraduate research (including an honors thesis writing group) and to the STEP program. Having already developed the department’s first study abroad course, he is now looking to develop another in Italy, while also pursuing a service learning and/or outreach course working with incarcerated local populations.