Awards
I was awarded the 2015 Political Studies Association (PSA) main prize of the Bernard Crick Award for Outstanding Teaching. Over the years, across a range of courses, I have strived to deliver a whole series of teaching innovations in and beyond the classroom to enliven class and tutorial discussion and promote alternative cultural, national, and linguistic experiences. Most recently, my activities have focused on delivering new political economy courses at the University of Sydney, including my unit ECOP2613 ‘The Political Economy of Global Capitalism’.
This second-year course covers past classics in political economy, from Karl Marx to Karl Polanyi, Leon Trotsky to Rosa Luxemburg as well as contemporary classics in the work of Ellen Meiksins Wood, Charles Post, Jairus Banaji, David Harvey, Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin, J.K. Gibson-Graham, David Ruccio, and Yanis Varoufakis.
In making the award, the PSA particularly singled out the innovative approach in my teaching marked by the use of blogging and social media, notably linked to the ‘Piketty Digests’ used on ECOP2613.
Both Andreas Bieler and myself were jointly awarded the 2012/13 British International Studies Association (BISA)-Higher Education Academy (HEA) Award for Excellence in Teaching International Studies linked to our co-taught MA module Theories & Concepts in International Relations.
In making the award, the BISA Teaching and Learning Committee wrote:
For their range of interventions and innovative teaching practices on their MA module on IR theory and concepts, Professor Bieler and Dr Morton are worthy recipients of the award for teaching excellence. They have clearly demonstrated the ability and means to teach a difficult subject well and their suite of innovations, including the use of film, music, mini-roundtables, poetry competitions and online resources and tools, provides ample and multifaceted opportunities for their students to engage with the subject and to deepen their learning and appreciation. They are commended in particular for their use of everyday objects as a way into complex theories and their development of a subject-specific pedagogical approach, as well as their work to disseminate their teaching practice through blogs and publication.
In 2012, I was a Lord Dearing Award winner that, since 1999, recognises the outstanding achievements of University of Nottingham staff in enhancing the student learning experience. Since its inception, over 150 members of staff from a range of different staff groups have received an award, many of whom have been nominated by the students they teach and support. A Dearing Award is highly valued within the University of Nottingham and acknowledges the world-class input of staff in creating a student learning environment which is nurturing on the one hand, but, on the other, is challenging, creative and innovative.
Teaching
In 2008, I was a Guest Professor on the Mexico Solidarity Network Study Abroad Program. This was a six week study abroad program based in Mexico (San Cristóbal, Chiapas and Mexico City) teaching on ‘Mexican Social Movements—Theory and Practice’, focused on indigenous and urban social movements in Mexico, namely the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) and the Frente Popular Francisco Villa Independiente (FPFV-I).
My current teaching at the University of Sydney covers: