Claire Schmidt
RECEIVES '23 McCALLUM AWARD
By MAVRICK ALEXANDER
Veteran faculty member Dr. Claire Schmidt is the 2023 recipient of the prestigious John McCallum Excellence in Teaching Award, presented annually to one Missouri Valley College faculty member whose peers acknowledge their academic excellence, hard work and dedication to the students of the college. “I was completely shocked and surprised, said Schmidt, an associate professor of English, “The stuff that meant the most to me was the things that my students and colleagues said about me.” Schmidt teaches courses in British and world literature and writing. Her areas of literary expertise include early medieval British literature, Chaucer, postcolonial British fiction, and global mystery fiction. “I think that's what we try to do as teachers, is to see our students and to let them know that they are seen,” said Schmidt, “so it’s almost a shocker, a little bit shocking to realize that you are also being seen.” Schmidt specializes in creative nonfiction, public writing, and grant writing. As a folklorist, her research is focused on the everyday, specifically occupational humor and foodways and race. She is the author of If You Don’t Laugh You’ll Cry: The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers (2017, University of Wisconsin Press) and has published her research in Western Folklore, Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture, Oral Tradition , as well as in edited collections, including Reading Mystery Science Theatre: Critical Approaches and History of Folklore Studies in the United States and Canada.
I was completely shocked and surprised...
“The success of one person is the success of everyone. When one person at Valley wins, that means that everyone is lifted, and that’s the whole point we are here,” she said.. Schmidt also helps lead the charge for MVC’s Student Research Symposium, a professional opportunity for our students to share academic, professional, and creative work with the entire campus community. Twice a year, students can participate in the Symposium with submissions of original research, reviews, scholarly essays, creative writing, performance, film and original artwork. During the symposium, outstanding student work is recognized with three awards for excellence in undergraduate student research. “It is an amazing opportunity for students to show off their work, to gain real experience presenting at the professional level, to build a valuable internet footprint for themselves that will communicate the type of professional they are once they leave our campus,” she said. Schmidt received her bachelor’s in English from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, master’s in English at the University of Missouri, and her PhD in English with a concentration in folklore, oral tradition, and cultural studies, from the University of Missouri.
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