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Beata Grant, Ph.D., associate professor of Chinese and chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures in Arts & Sciences, has received a 1999 Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, a state policy board that oversees the Missouri Department of Higher Education.
Grant teaches a range of literature, religion and culture courses. One of her most popular courses, "Introduction to Asian Religions," takes students on a whirlwind tour of the major religious traditions of India, China and Japan. She also offers an introductory course on Buddhism in the various cultures of Asia and courses on religion and gender in Chinese literature and culture.
Grant received the award at a statewide higher education planning conference held late last year. The awards have been presented annually to an outstanding faculty member from each of about 50 public and independent colleges and universities in Missouri. Award criteria generally include effective teaching and advising at the undergraduate level; service to the campus community; commitment to high standards of excellence; success in nurturing student achievement; and impact on academic and personal lives of students.
"Professor Grant fills all the (teaching award) criteria and more," said Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts & Sciences. "Her teaching has been enormously important to a great number of our students. The course she has developed on the religions of Asia is not only fundamentally important in developing an understanding of Asian language, literature and culture; it has also proved to be very popular -- a testimony to her knowledge and skill, as well as to the significance of the subject matter."
Macias added that Grant also has done a superb job of leading the large and complex Asian and Near Eastern languages and literatures department and has been instrumental in looking for ways to connect the department to other areas in Arts & Sciences.
Grant received a bachelor's degree in Oriental studies in 1976 from the University of Arizona, a master's degree in Chinese in 1981 from Stanford University and a doctorate in Chinese in 1987, also from Stanford. A member of the faculty here since 1988, she became an associate professor in 1995 and departmental chair in 1998.
Always interested in the intersection of religion and literature, Grant focused her dissertation on the Buddhist writings of a Song dynasty literary giant named Su Shi. Her research, which required two years in Beijing, was eventually published in 1994 as her first book, "Mount Lu Revisited: Buddhism in the Life and Writings of Su Shi (1037-1107)." Her research continues to explore the poetry and other writings of 18th-century Chinese Buddhist nuns and laywomen, reconstructing their lives and writings and bringing back to life their letters, poems and sermons.
