1996 - Dr. Roger Moore
Department of Romance Languages
BA ( Bristol); MA, PhD ( Toronto)
Dr. Roger Moore has been a member of the St. Thomas faculty since 1972. A poet, rugby coach, teacher, and scholar, his latest publications include Sun and Moon: Poems from Oaxaca, Mexico and the Proceedings of the 1999 Atlantic Universities' Teaching Showcase. He has also contributed more than 30 peer-reviewed articles to such established international journals as the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies and Modern Language Review (UK), the Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos(Canada), the Bulletin of the Comediantes (USA), and the Boletín de la Biblioteca de Menéndez y Pelayo (Spain).
Dr. Moore has been the recipient of several major awards for teaching and scholarship, including the Canadian Association of Hispanist's Award for the best article published by a Canadian Hispanist in 1987, the St. Thomas University Special Merit Award for Research in 1996, the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Association of Atlantic Universities in 1997, and the prestigious 3M Teaching Fellowship in 2000.
Dr. Moore's teaching has been enriched by his diverse experiences as an élite rugby coach and a poet. The coaching philosophy of providing players with activity, enjoyment, and purpose translates well into the classroom, as does the encouragement of creativity. "Creativity goes beyond writing," he says. "For me, the university classroom is a place where individuals can find themselves, improve themselves, and (re)create themselves." Moreover, Dr. Moore tries to ensure that there is an element of fun in everything he teaches. "I have always tried to put back into the classroom the joy that I discovered while learning," he explains. "It is only when students pursue knowledge for love, rather than for material reward, that true life-long learning takes place."
Dr. Moore has demonstrated over the years that he is sensitive to his students' needs, maintaining an open-door policy and offering many courses on Spanish Peninsular Literature on a voluntary, unpaid basis. He has embraced new teaching methods and technologies throughout his teaching career, gaining a Certificate in Multi-Media from the University of New Brunswick in 1999. He is committed to an interdisciplinary approach to education and has worked in such innovative programmes as the Writing Programme in the 1980s, and more recently, the Aquinas Programme, Humanities 1003, and Spanish 3213:Mexico Online (a web based course in Spanish on Mexico). He has also participated in exchange programmes with universities in Mexico and the Dominican Republic and inspired many of his students to travel to Spanish-speaking countries.
"When I teach," says Dr. Moore," I try to leave the student with more than just a knowledge of the subject I am teaching, for I would like to leave each one with a lasting impression of the nature and importance of language, literacy, ideas, and culture."