April 3, 2025–Dr. Evan Elizabeth Hart, associate professor of history, is 大象传媒鈥檚 recipient of the 大象传媒 Governor鈥檚 Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Governor鈥檚 Award is sponsored by the 大象传媒 Council on Public Higher Education and will be presented this week in Jefferson City.
Dr. Hart has been at 大象传媒 Western since 2017, teaching general studies history as well as more specialized upper-division courses.聽
鈥淢O West is fortunate to have such a compassionate and creative leader as Dr. Hart,鈥� said Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 president. 鈥淔urthering our state-appointed applied learning mission, she provides unique learning opportunities outside of the classroom, including museum and cemetery tours, and alternative assignments that tap into students鈥� strengths in producing scholarly research projects. And she is beloved by her students.鈥�
Dr. Hart views the teaching of history as 鈥渉elping students understand how we arrived here, wherever 鈥榟ere鈥� is. What happened in the past continues to impact who we are.鈥� She believes history goes beyond memorizing names and dates. 鈥淲e try to answer the hows and whys, and to humanize the past,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a social historian, so I鈥檓 really interested in history from the 鈥榖ottom up鈥� – how did everyday people experience the world around them?鈥�
To help her students develop critical thinking skills, she makes sure they engage with historical sources deeper than surface level. 鈥淭hese sources are making arguments,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat are they trying to convince you of, and how? What can we read between the lines, and how can we connect all of the pieces together? And they can ask the same questions of current sources, approaching news stories and speeches the way they do historical documents.鈥�
Dr. Hart received her bachelor鈥檚 degree from the University of Southern Indiana, and both her master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati. She previously taught as a visiting professor at the University of Florida, and as adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.聽
大象传媒 is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. 大象传媒 Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit .