James C. Ahern, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming, respects the diversity of his students’ ideas no matter if they find the subjects in his classes to be controversial.

In his "Introduction to Physical Anthropology," Ahern explores subjects such as evolution, human biological variations including race, human similarities to animals, biomedical research on primates and repatriation of Native American skeletal remains, all topics that some may find controversial to their beliefs, says one of Ahern’s colleagues.

"Jim reminds us that an introductory course can be an exciting teaching and learning experience," the colleague comments. "Jim cares and the overwhelming majority of the students know and appreciate that fact."

That type of teaching style has earned Ahern the Beatrice Gallatin Beuf Golden Apple Award at UW. Beatrice Gallatin Beuf of Big Horn in 1986 established the Golden Apple Award to recognize teaching excellence in freshman level courses in the UW College of Arts and Sciences.

Ahern received a B.A. (1991) from Beloit (Wis.) College, an M.A. (1993) from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. (1998) from the University of Michigan, all in anthropology. He has taught freshman level courses at UW since fall 2000.

"Jim really respects the diversity of his students’ ideas," a colleague wrote in the nomination form. "Jim breaks the large lecture class into small group discussions for some class periods and requires students to react to some of the controversies via e-mail."

This type of teaching style impressed one of Ahern’s students. "I’m really impressed that he doesn’t just present his beliefs, but lets us know all the theories and ideas on a given subject."

He also inspires his students to reach their goals.

"I found Dr. Ahern to be a great professor; he really knew what he was talking about and he made it very interesting to learn," the student writes. "He also really seemed to care about his students’ progress. At the beginning of the semester I struggled a bit on the first couple of tests, but then I earned an ‘A’ on a test and he wrote on my paper, ‘great turn around, keep it up,’" writes a student. "This helped motivate me to keep up the good work."

Another student adds, "His class was taught very well. I have learned more in this class than in any other. Dr. Ahern has made this class so interesting that I changed my major to anthropology. I think that he is amazingly organized and every question we ask, he answers."

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