2022 Winners

Dr. Debarun Majumdar

Professor, Department of Sociology

Recipient

Dr. Debarun Majumdar has an undergraduate degree in Architecture and Regional Planning from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; a master's degree in Geography and Planning from University of Toledo; and a doctoral degree in sociology from Bowling Green State University.

Dr. Majumdar has been with the Sociology Department at Texas State since 2001. He teaches courses in demography and statistics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His specialization is in demography and in his recent research he has studied the immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities in the U.S. Specifically, he is interested in studying the correlates of subjective well-being of different population groups.

Dr. Majumdar is receiving this award in recognition for his online course SOCI 3320: Population Dynamics. He has been teaching this course online on a regular basis. He enhanced SOCI 3320 in the Office of Distance and Extended Learning’s Advanced Online Course Design and Development course.

Dr. Vince Bagnulo

Lecturer, Department of Political Science

Runner-Up

Dr. Bagnulo earned his PhD in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and has been a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Texas State since 2020. He is also the coordinator for the core introductory American Government series of courses in the department, which together have roughly 8,000 enrollments each year. Before his current position, he taught for several years in various capacities at Texas State across Political Science, the Honors College, and Philosophy. Prior to Texas State, he taught at Furman University in South Carolina. His research focuses on 19th-century political thought, especially the relationship between liberalism and democracy. He has published research on Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.

The course that Dr. Bagnulo is being honored for is Political Science 2310: Principles of American Government. He has taught this course face-to-face several times and has taught it online intermittently for five years. The course began development as part of a summer workshop on online teaching run by what is now the Office of Distance and Extended Learning.

Dr. Bagnulo is a native of Winnipeg, Canada. He earned undergraduate degrees in Physics and Philosophy from the University of Winnipeg and a masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Oxford. His students sometimes express surprise that a Canadian is teaching them American government. He has been told more than once by a student at the end of a course that their concerns about his nationality had been allayed and they were now satisfied that he “knows what he was talking about.”

Daris Hale

Senior Lecturer, School of Music

Runner-Up

Daris Word Hale is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Music at Texas State University, where she teaches music performance, as well as Introduction to Fine Arts. She is also a professional musician, performing as a regular member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and routinely touring internationally with the faculty ensemble, Trio488. Daris' recorded performances can be found on TV, movies, and commercials, and numerous albums are on all of the popular music streaming services.

Currently, Daris is the Academic Program Director for two different study abroad programs, one to London/Paris and one to Rome/Vienna. She is also the Faculty-in-Residence for Residential College. Engaging university students through learning and curiosity is one of Daris' passions. She creates innovative approaches that allow her to craft educational experiences for her students that expand their scope and allow more opportunity for future success.

Daris is the recipient of several awards including the Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Education, and Outstanding Service to Residential College. She was a Fulbright Scholar to Tanzania in 2010-2011, and serves as a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador for the Council of International Exchange of Scholars.

Daris has participated in international scholarly research in music for over 25 years. Her work has an emphasis on international composers supporting the universalization of indigenous music. She is most passionate about her work with musical outreach and education for underserved communities.

With this award, Daris is being recognized for her online course MU 2313: Introduction to Fine Arts.