![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/news\/images\/illustrations\/pfosl.jpg\")
Fosl was chosen for the outstanding quality of his teaching, expertise in his fields of study, the originality of his courses and scholarship and the\n role he plays as a mentor to students and faculty. <\/p>\n
LEXINGTON, Ky.\u2014Transylvania philosophy professor Peter Fosl has received the Acorn Award for outstanding teaching from the Kentucky Advocates for
Higher Education. The award recognizes outstanding teachers at Kentucky\u2019s public or independent colleges and universities.<\/p>\n
Fosl was chosen for the outstanding quality of his teaching, expertise in his fields of study, the originality of his courses and scholarship and the
\n role he plays as a mentor to students and faculty. <\/p>\n
\u201cTransylvania has always placed a high priority on teaching excellence,\u201d said President Charles L. Shearer. \u201cPeter is one of the
\n finest teachers I have known. He is simply superb, and I am thrilled that his dedication has been recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Education.\u201d <\/p>\n
When describing why he chose teaching as a profession, Fosl says \u201cThere\u2019s a sense in which I didn\u2019t choose teaching as a profession.
\n Rather, teaching chose me. <\/p>\n
\u201cTeaching is to some extent creating lovers. The word philosophy means love of wisdom. So there\u2019s a kind of love of learning and inquiry
\n and reflection that I try to ignite in students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fosl says that as a teacher it\u2019s important to make sure students are involved in the class. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve found that teaching is not just about conveying a body of information, but it\u2019s cultivating certain passions and sentiments
\n in the students, so that students find the material interesting, important, and something they can invest their own passions in,\u201d he said. \u201cOne
\n thing that is delightful and very satisfying to me is to see that passion for learning take root in students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shearer said that Transylvania \u201cattracts professors who are among the best in their disciplines and who love to teach.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fosl joins a long list of Transylvania professors recognized for teaching excellence. Philosophy professor Jack Furlong received the Acorn Award in
\n 2000, and Transylvania has dominated the Kentucky Professor of the Year Awards bestowed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and
\n the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Biology professor Peggy Palombi won last year, political science professor Don Dugi in 2003, Furlong
\n in 2002, biology professor James Wagner in 2001 and economics professor Larry Lynch in 1996.<\/p>\n
Fosl joined the Transylvania faculty in 1998, and was named the Bingham-Young Professor in 2004. This two-year position is intended to stimulate curricular
\n enrichment and development of the art of teaching. Fosl created and deployed an ambitious \u201cLiberty, Security, and Justice\u201d program that included
\n a new philosophy course, a film series, faculty\/student reading groups and national guest speakers in an effort to focus campus intellectual life around
\n this issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeter is a superb and inspiring teacher, an active scholar, a dynamic colleague, and is more than deserving of recognition,\u201d said colleague
\n and history professor Frank Russell. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s a sentiment that would surely be echoed by his other colleagues and by students who have been lucky enough to have experienced a class
\n taught by him. <\/p>\n