CETL Honors Graduate Teachers

Graduate student TAs and instructors make an amazing and sometimes hidden contribution to the classroom at the University of Mississippi. We at CETL are delighted to be able to shine some light on their accomplishments through the Graduate Excellence in Teaching Awards, including this year’s winners Anna Platt and Godwin Egbe.

Anna Platt is the winner of the 2025-26 Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Before beginning her graduate studies in English Literature last fall, Anna had already honed her skills teaching 8th grade English Language Arts at public schools in Jackson and Crystal Springs, MS. At the University of Mississippi she also teaches a wide variety of students, many of whom are taking her literature survey course to fulfill a general education requirement. But whatever the age of her students, Anna says she focuses on crafting a classroom structure to “empower all students to be successful and leave my classes feeling accomplished.”

In her teaching statement, Anna writes, “Joy and empathy are the foundation of my classroom.” The joy, she says, comes naturally, given her enthusiasm for her subject. The empathy she carefully cultivates through community building activities, small group work, and social annotation and discussion boards. “I take great pride in the fact that my students often become friends in my classroom,” she says.

These values were on full display when Anna was observed by her faculty recommender, Dr. Clay Cogswell. “Sitting off to the side observing, I particularly recall how people’s faces lit up at the beginning of class when Anna gave them a special acknowledgement for the discussion board post they had completed the night before,” wrote Cogswell. He went on to acknowledge that Anna managed to pull of the trick of “simultaneously challenging her most experienced students while also lowering the barrier to success for those who may feel less sure of themselves in an English class.”

Anna’s students are effusive in their praise. “She was honestly the best TA I’ve ever had,” wrote one of the students in her discussion section. Another wrote, “She goes out of her way to make sure we are enjoying and understand the content we are learning in class,” adding, “I would vote for her for president of the U.S.A.”

Anna went out of her way to share credit with her students when accepting the teaching award. “Winning this award is confirmation that the work my students and I undertake together is important and valuable,” says Anna. “I am grateful that their hard work, and mine, is being acknowledged.”

Godwin Egbe is the recipient of the 2025-2026 Johnny W. Lott Graduate Instructor Award. Godwin is working on his PhD in Criminal Justice, and his teaching and research interests include cyber crime, policing, terrorism, social justice and violence.

Originally from Nigeria, he has acquired eight years of teaching experience both back home and at the University of Mississippi, where he has been the instructor of record in two courses, “Introduction to Law Enforcement” and “Foundations of Terrorism,” the latter of which he has taught several times.

Godwin’s teaching philosophy prioritizes the development of students’ critical thinking skills, and to this end he emphasizes teaching through case studies that allow students the opportunity to apply what they study in class to real-world scenarios.

Many of his students have responded with enthusiasm. One student in his Foundations of Terrorism course wrote. “I love this course! If I could take it again I would.” Another wrote: “He's a great instructor, and I encourage anybody in the criminal justice field to take this class.”

Godwin was nominated by not one but three professors familiar with his teaching, who all wrote about him in superlative terms. One nominator wrote, “he structures the course to move beyond rote memorization and instead challenges students to critically analyze complex issues such as the causes, motivations, and societal responses to terrorism.”

His thesis advisor, Dr. Francis Boateng, said of Godwin: “Mr. Egbe’s teaching is innovative in design, effective in practice, grounded in evidence, and deeply student-centered. He does not simply deliver content; he develops confident, thoughtful learners who can apply criminal justice knowledge to real problems.”

For Godwin, winning the Graduate Instructor Award has had a galvanizing effect on him personally. “It affirms my commitment to shaping future experts who think critically, act ethically, and contribute meaningfully to the field of criminal justice,” he writes. “It also motivates me to continue creating an engaging and supportive learning environment while continually improving my teaching to better serve my students.”