Szeman honoured for excellence in graduate supervision

When Imre Szeman meets with his graduate students, he learns as much from them as they do from him.

“Working with graduate students keeps my own ideas fresh,” said Szeman, associate professor in the Department of English & Cultural Studies. “Grad students are always on top of the latest ideas and developments in the scholarly world.”

Szeman received the President’s Award of Excellence for Graduate Supervision at the Graduate Students Recognition Day on March 18.

“I feel extremely honoured to receive the award, especially since my students nominated me for it,” said Szeman. “I take my role as graduate supervisor extremely seriously and try to do what I can to make sure that my students have an interesting and rewarding time while they are in graduate school at McMaster.”

He added that he enjoys helping graduate students build their confidence as writers and researchers.

“It can be daunting to begin work in areas of scholarly research in which, inevitably, a great deal has already been written. I like helping my students come to a realization that they have something unique and original to contribute, and that through their hard work they can become part of the community of scholars that have preceded them.”