Dr. Laleh Behbehanian was one of this year's recipients of the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award!
"In its report on the five awardees, the committee said that Laleh Behbehanian “creates an engaging class environment where all students are able to actively participate and think critically about difficult material.” Cybelle Fox, chair of sociology, said in recommending Behbehanian for the award that she is “a phenomenal teacher, a devoted mentor, and an instructor who makes critical interventions in the lives of students, especially first-generation students of color.”
Sociology Professor Michael Burawoy told the committee, “I can safely say I have never known a more brilliant, articulate, engaging, serious, and devoted teacher in my 45 years at Berkeley” and added that “… there is something magical about the way she engages her audience, never speaking down to students, always advancing sociological ideas through evocative examples, and treating students as though they are her equals.”
A student quoted in the report said the course she took with Behbehanian was “the most transformative, difficult and rewarding experience of my entire undergraduate life.” Another said, “I vividly remember sitting in her social movements class and being struck with the feeling of this is what I came to college for!”"