College of Environmental Design alumnus Joseph Godlewski (M.S. Architecture ‘09, Ph.D. Architecture ‘15), an assistant professor of architecture at Syracuse University, was recently awarded the Meredith Teaching Recognition by the university. The Meredith Professorship was established by a substantial bequest from the estate of Dr. L. Douglas Meredith, a 1926 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, and recognizes excellence in teaching and encourages a culture of superior teaching among faculty members.

Godlewski, a member of the faculty since 2013, teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios, large lecture courses in architectural theory and advises thesis students. He also teaches a seminar on the politics of space in the Renée Crown University Honors Program. “My scholarly and pedagogical objective is to equip designers with what I call global disciplinary knowledge—a broader, more diverse and fine-grained understanding of the inherited techniques, methods and vocabulary of the discipline of architecture,” he says.

Using innovating teaching techniques, Godlewski creates adaptive learning environments in three areas of inquiry: challenging the theory/practice divide, developing a more nuanced sense of architecture as a “global” discipline and transforming studio culture both within and beyond the classroom. He purposefully crafts his teaching methods to resonate with today’s students and has worked on diversity and inclusion initiatives within the school. His teaching recently earned him an ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

Godlewski’s mentorship is deeply valued by students in the School of Architecture. “Among both undergraduate and graduate students, Professor Godlewski is admired and appreciated for his wit and candor, his mentorship and his criticisms, as well as the amount of care and effort he puts into the architecture school and his students,” one student said.

Lori Brown, a professor of architecture at Syracuse, says she greatly values Godlewski as a colleague. “I cannot speak highly enough about Joe—the evolution of his teaching, his commitment to educating future architects, his contributions to the school, and the future promise he demonstrates as a teacher and a researcher,” she says.