Professor and Program Coordinator of Journalism and Professional Writing Kathleen Webber received the The Robert Anderson First-Year Seminar Distinguished Instructor Award at TCNJ’s Teaching and Learning Summit held during the spring semester.
The award is given to a faculty member who develops one or more intellectually engaging and supportive course(s), shows long-term dedication with at least eight semesters of teaching, embodies the goals of the program to serve the campus with consistent excellence in teaching, and provides evidence of positive impact on students over many years. Professor of English Lincoln Konkle nominated Webber for the award.
Webber, who has been teaching at TCNJ since 2012, is a part of the First Seminar Coordinating Committee. Her passion for writing about sustainability regarding fashion began during her second semester teaching in 2013 when 1,133 garment workers were killed in Bangladesh during a factory collapse.
As a result, she was inspired to teach her First-Year-Semester course, The True Cost of Fashion. The FYS course explores the environmental and human rights concerns within the fashion industry. It educates students on the significant waste and pollution associated with producing fast fashion and highlights the harsh conditions that factory workers are subjected to for little pay.
Webber said teaching the course to a diverse range of majors has been a rewarding experience because all individuals, regardless of what field they are in, have something to contribute to sustainability.
“I try to say to them to solve this problem and think about it critically, it takes people from public health to come up with solutions. It takes policy makers so they get to see where they can contribute,” Webber said.
She said she is very grateful to be recognized by the college for her work on the FSCC and in the program. “To me, this class is my heart. It’s all about my research,” Webber said.
She explained that although it is nice to express oneself through fashion, human rights and environmental issues are not discussed enough. “My hope is that students leave this class and think more about where they see their place in solutions when it comes to things like social and environmental justice,” Webber said.
Political Science major Lacey Okamura ’27, who took the course during her first-year at TCNJ, said that Webber’s teaching went beyond the classroom, encouraging students to become more involved in the community. “Professor Webber was an engaging professor that truly cared for her students and the topics in which she taught,” Okamura said.
She said although the class material was very different from her normal coursework, it was one of her favorite classes. She recalls a time when she worked alongside Webber to host a free clothing drive which inspired her to take action.
“It meant so much to have Professor Webber as a mentor, someone who cares deeply for the environment, reducing waste, and spreading awareness through her journalism,” Okamura said. “I’ve learned so much from her and am so pleased to see her dedication and hard work recognized.”
– Emilia Calabrese ’27