Interview with Assoc. prof. Stuchlíková – Lecturer of the Year 2022
As part of the conclusion of the Academic Forum on 1 March 2023, the Prague University of Economics and Business announced the Lecturer of the Year Award – one for each faculty. The Lecturer of the Year 2022 for the Faculty of International Relations is Assoc. prof. Zuzana Stuchlíková Ph. D. from the Department of International Economic Relations.
Doc. Stuchlíková is an Associate Professor at the Department of International Economic Relations and Director of the Centre for Asian Studies at the VŠE. She guarantees and teaches the Master’s course Regional Markets in Global Perspective and courses in the minor specialization of Chinese Studies and Economic Diplomacy. In addition to Japanese and Chinese economics, she is also interested in selected trends in international economic relations (regional economic integration, technological development, aging population). She was a member of the research team of the TA CR project entitled Targeting Investment Support in the Czech Republic with regard to the expected impacts of technological change.
doc. Ing. Zuzana Stuchlíková, Ph.D.
How do you think you deserved the award?
First of all, I am very happy and grateful for it. I sincerely hope it is mainly due to the long and intensive care for the courses I love to teach. One lovely alumna wrote to me that “you can tell when you do it with your heart” – so I’m glad that students feel this in my classes too.
Has there been any difference in your approach to teaching between the 2019 Teacher of the Year award and the 2022 award? Has anything changed in that time?
Although it has been a relatively short time, a lot has changed in terms of teaching. We have discovered what it is like to teach online even under the pressure of many adverse external circumstances. I think that this has made my colleagues and me in the Department of International Relations at FIR more resilient and open to further changes and challenges in teaching. One such challenge is undoubtedly the current move of courses to the LMS Moodle as well.
How will you be teaching in the coming semesters? Are there any changes for students?
I will continue mainly with editing and tweaking the courses that I have already moved to Moodle. It is far from being just about using the new teaching system, a number of activities and assessments in the courses also need to be adapted to it, which will be reflected, for example, in the need to re-accredit syllabuses in the coming semesters.
Is this award more of a commitment or an appreciation for you?
The Rector’s award is certainly both – it is a kind, explicit, and tangible recognition of the teacher’s long-term commitment to quality and engaging teaching. Even if a teacher regularly sees favorable “grades” in student surveys in InSIS, they are still just numbers, very short-handed numbers that don’t warm the soul for very long. But the Rector’s accolades are not easily forgotten! The commitment is because it motivates further progress and perhaps raises the expectations of some students.
