Extensive commitment to service in the community and at GU earns instructor prestigious “Scholarship and Service” recognition, honors sharing of arts, literature, history, philosophy
Dr. Tod Marshall won this year’s Humanities Washington Award.
Dr. Tod Marshall has been awarded the 2015 Humanities Washington Award for Scholarship and Service, an annual award that recognizes outstanding achievement in the public humanities.
As KayLee Jaech, Executive Director at Humanities Washington (HW) says, “These awards are presented to individuals and/or organizations whose time and talents enlarge the meaning of the humanities in our lives and whose work reflects the spirit and programs of Humanities Washington.”
Marshall, who first came to Gonzaga in 1999 as a Visiting Assistant Professor, is now a Professor of English and Director of the Writing concentration major and the Visiting Writers Series (VWS). He will finish his 16th year at Gonzaga this May.
Because of Marshalls’ extensive and longterm commitment to the public humanities, he was chosen for this year’s award. He has been involved in many HW programs such as its first Clemente Course in Spokane, a program that provides free college courses in the humanities to economically disadvantaged individuals. He has served on several committees and played a crucial role in the success of the Bedtime Stories events.
Jaech says, “Just last spring Marshall joined Humanities Washington’s Prime Time Family reading program. The program in Spokane is thriving, thanks to his early and continued leadership.”
Marshall stresses the significance of the humanities when he says, “As a first generation college graduate, I know that it’s very important to build cultural bridges that extend off-campus. That might have an impact on people who are not afforded the privilege of higher education. By working with HW I have the benefit of a dynamic partnership that creates so many venues to reach people both inside and outside of academia, an organization that shares so many of my own personal goals that involve bringing humanities – arts, literature, history, philosophy – to people that might not otherwise have access. I am deeply honored by this award, but I am also humbled because I know that there is still so much that I could be doing.”
Part of HW’s mission is to “envision a state where all people seek a deeper understanding of others, themselves, and the human experience in order to discern and promote the common good. The humanities encourage us to investigate, speak, listen, read, reflect, question, think, grow, and act.”
The organization provides attention to the mind and spirit; Marshall says that going without attention to these in his earlier years would have resulted in a bad ending.
“It’s a long story,” he says, “but after I was given the opportunity to attend college
(through my soccer skills), the Dominicans at my undergraduate school (Siena Heights in
Michigan) showed me such care and offered me such challenges that I felt compelled to
reinvent myself to try to rise to meet the standards they believed I could achieve. Since then, I have done my best as a scholar, teacher, and writer to honor their generosity toward me and their faith in me.”
As Jaech says, Marshall is a beloved professor at GU and an esteemed community member. “[His] many contributions to the literary and artistic life of Spokane have left a lasting impact on its residents and countless students. We are so pleased to provide him with this much-deserved recognition.”
HW will present the award to Marshall in person at the October 2015 Bedtime Stories event at the Spokane club.