Sasson Rafailov receives The Class of 1985 Fellowship for Creative Teaching

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The committee for this year's University-wide Graduate Teaching Awards recently announced that the School of Architecture's Sasson Rafailov was selected to receive The Class of 1985 Fellowship for Creative Teaching. 

This award, which includes a $5000 prize supported by the UVA Alumni Association, is among the highest honors that a graduate student can earn in recognition of their dedication to teaching at UVA. Rafailov follows Bernardo de Magalhães e Menezes, both candidates in the PhD in the Constructed Environment Program, as the second winner from the School of Architecture to receive this notable award. 

Rafailov will be honored at a reception for Public Service and Teaching Awards on April 29th. His nomination was support by Weedon Professor Shiqiao Li, who acknowledged Rafailov's outstanding and transformational teaching in ARCH 1020 Lessons in Making, a required foundation class for all first year undergraduate students in the School of Architecture.

Li, who is the Director of the PhD in the Constructed Environment Program, shared, "Sasson’s pedagogical innovation came from his deep conviction of design education in the 21st century. He has been researching design pedagogy for many years and has considered ways of formulating teaching design in the new context of environmental and cultural challenges today. He wanted to build into the class a different human-nature relationship and translate that relationship to design; this includes a carefully guided perception of nature’s gifts and human’s returns."

One example of Rafailov's creative pedagogical approach for the class is the 'Material Sourcing Assignment', a project that allows students to explore the process of gathering natural materials as a source for architectural expressions throughout the semester. Students were asked to harvest fallen branches from trees around UVA Grounds to create charcoal for drawing sticks, giving them a hands-on lesson in material ethics and sustainability. "The stick I got from the basswood tree near the A-School was the one stick I could recognize even after it was burned (to make charcoal),” said student Sana Galaria. “Every time I walk past the tree now...I am more connected to the natural environment thanks to the tree.” Similar approaches throughout the course married a mindful approach to material, design and environmental ethics. Blending creative play and skill-building with reflective learning, ARCH 1020 served as an important foundation for students new to design.

Rafailov's demonstrated excellence in teaching Lessons in Making is the result of ongoing innovation in design studio pedagogy — manifested through scholarship, developed through this PhD research, and partnerships with the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Department of Drama. His accomplishments also build on past teaching experiences across graduate level courses in design theory, research methods, and thesis design studio. Throughout his teaching experiences, he has demonstrated traits that bring out the best in his students. Professor Nana Last (and Rafailov's primary PhD dissertation advisor) explained, "He is patiently understanding yet provocative, empathetic yet challenging, prepared yet adaptable."

Additionally, his teaching contributions and commitment to students were highlighted through notable soft skills that fostered discovery and self-reflection. Students in Lesson in Making shared that they were challenged in a supportive and empowering way through Rafailov's approach — and noted how appreciative they were of his approachable and engaging personality. For a class that had an enrollment of over 100 students, Rafailov's caring acknowledgment of each individual student did not go unnoticed. A student in the class reflected on how meaningful it was that "[Sasson] was able to create an environment that allowed for all of us to feel comfortable, which in turn allowed us to feel comfortable speaking to each other and [those] around us."

Upon receipt of the award, Rafailov shared, "I am honored to have been chosen for The Class of 1985 Fellowship for Creative Teaching for my work in ARCH 1020 last fall. I am also grateful for the faculty who supported my nomination, the administrators who trusted me to design a foundational course in our school, the staff who generously supported our students through this transition, and the network of friends and peers who encouraged me throughout this process." 

True to the spirit of the recognition, Rafailov expressed his deepest gratitude to his students, and their open willingness to engage in a new curriculum. "Their eager participation in these pedagogical experiments confirmed for me that the future of our discipline calls for a creative re-evaluation of its educational models — and more, that our historical moment demands of us a radically novel approach to teaching if we are to animate the spirit and curiosities of a new generation."