Bratt Honored As Top Teacher
courtesy of John Corriveau
Calvin College professor of history James Bratt was honored on Thursday night by being named the 21st recipient of Calvin College's Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching, the highest distinction that Calvin bestows on a faculty member.
The announcement was made at the annual Faculty Awards Dinner held at Calvin's Prince Conference Center.
Bratt is a teacher of numerous courses on American history and its intellectual and religious history.
He is the author/editor of eight books and more than 50 articles, a scholar on the life and work of Reformed thinker Abraham Kuyper, a two-time Fulbright Scholar, the recipient of numerous grants, the mentor of many students and a fixture on college governance committees.
Bratt graduated from Calvin in 1971 with a degree in history. In 1978, he earned his Ph.D. from Yale with specialties in American intellectual and religious history and the history of immigration. That same year, he began his teaching career in the religious studies department at the University of Pittsburgh, where he stayed for nine years.
In 1987, Bratt moved on to Calvin. "I knew I didn't want to teach in a big state university for the rest of my life," he said. "And coming back to my alma mater, I really believed in the Calvin educational project."
For the past 25-plus years at Calvin, Bratt has made an impact on many students and colleagues.
Elisa Leunk Malefyt, who graduated in 2005, took four of Bratt's classes: "When I took my first class from him, I was aiming for a business communications major. By the end of the semester, I knew that history was what I was meant to study," she said.
"And though I actually ended up working in business, I spend much of my free time on learning more history."
Bratt's colleagues added another layer of praise:
"To me he is one of the few people I turn to as a model Christian scholar," said history professor Kristin Du Mez. "His scholarship is extensive, insightful, and highly regarded, but he remains unfailingly humble. He leads as a servant."
