Award Recipients
President’s Awards 2021 Recipients | Excellence in Teaching Award
Anne Zbitnew Faculty of Media and Creative Arts
“Anne Zbitnew is a demonstrated leader in teaching excellence, a celebrated researcher, an accomplished media artist, and an advocate for accessibility in teaching and learning.”
Cole Swanson, Program Co-ordinator/Professor, Art Foundation and Visual & Digital Arts Programs
Anne was nominated for constantly developing and adapting her content and pedagogy to changing cohorts and technology through an ongoing process of deep reflection and revision. She is an innovative and engaging teacher who develops interesting, multi-faceted assessments that always include digital skills, critical thinking, and reflection.
Anne is recognized for her innovative teaching practice, extensive research, institutional and community engagement, collaboration with and stewardship of faculty inside and outside Humber, and most significantly her championing of accessibility across and beyond the college.
Anne has been a faculty member since 1990, when she began teaching photography in continuing education. She went on to teach in the Creative Photography and Journalism Diploma programs and became full-time faculty in Media Foundation in 2015. Over this tenure she has demonstrated a deep dedication to teaching and learning, accessibility, and the Humber community as a whole.
In her adaptive and reflexive teaching practice, Anne facilitates a supportive and inclusive classroom that includes innovative modes of instruction and assessment, leads to powerful collaborations between students, and allows students the space to follow their own paths of inquiry. A recent Media Foundation student says of Anne: “She cares for equality, justice, accessibility and inclusivity and inspires others to do so. . . . Anne always made sure everyone was heard.”
Anne’s teaching is informed by her extensive research in disability studies and access, which includes multiple publications, presentations, workshops, and collaborative creative projects. Anne has been the recipient of a number of significant grants for applied research, including the Making Accessible Media online course and the ambitious Art in Access initiative. Anne is widely known and deeply respected for her willingness to collaborate, her generosity in mentoring others, and her tenacity in the face of barriers to positive change.
In her teaching, research and stewardship, Anne has had a significant role in changing the culture at Humber to one of inclusion and belonging. She truly exemplifies excellence in teaching.
