Faculty Spotlight - Kathryn Nielson

While Merrimack’s Honors Program has undoubtedly drastically grown since its inception in 2008, the quality of teaching in the Program has been exceptional from the beginning. Dr. Kathryn Nielsen, a Merrimack professor since 2001, is great evidence of this excellence. With a M.A. from the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. from Lesley University, she has been a part of the Program for years, not only teaching, but training and guiding students outside of the classroom during their time here. In the past she has taught a variety of courses, from First-Year Writing to Public and Professional Writing, but this semester she also is the professor for the Honors Senior Capstone course.

It’s easy to see why Dr. Nielsen has been involved in the Honors Program for so long-- her values and philosophies as a professor directly correlate with that of the Program itself. For her, teaching is not only about developing a student’s academic abilities. In fact, what she is most anticipating about Senior Capstone is the opportunity to “[learn] about the varied interests, curiosities, and passions of [her] students,” and she is “confident that the Senior Capstone will provide similar exposure to [her] as an educator.” Her dedication to pushing students to new heights not only academically but in all aspects of their lives is reflected in the tenets of the Honors Program--the variety of our requirements demonstrate how much value is placed in the development of good people, not just good students. While academic excellence is a reward all its own, the unique education that is offered to Merrimack students, and especially those in the Honors Program, produces well-rounded and ambitious adults who are ready to share their individual talents with their communities. Accordingly, Dr. Nielsen’s “global objective” for all of her courses is “to raise critical consciousness so that students become subjects as opposed to objects of the world.” The Honors Program is incredibly lucky to have professors like Dr. Nielsen, who, in the spirit of the Program, push our students to develop in all aspects