Dr. Bjørn Sletto Honored as New Member of Academy of Distinguished Teachers
We are proud to celebrate Professor Bjørn Sletto’s induction to The University of Texas at Austin’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Established in February 1995, the Academy of Distinguished Teachers is emblematic of the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching. The Academy provides leadership in improving the quality and depth of the undergraduate experience, and members advise the president and provost on matters related to the university’s instructional mission; participate in seminars, colloquia, and workshops on teaching effectiveness; and serve as mentors to new faculty.
Dr. Sletto has been a professor with UT School of Architecture since 2006, contributing nearly 20 years of teaching and service to the school’s Community & Regional Planning Program. During his time at UTSOA, Sletto has taught courses on environmental and social justice, international planning, public space planning, and practicum courses focused on international planning and development. As the director of the Institute of Latin American Studies’ (LLILAS) Research Initiative in Participatory Mapping, Sletto has worked in collaboration with partner institutions in South America to expand scholarship on cartography and territoriality. His research and scholarship investigates the complex legacy and contemporary functions of maps and GIS tools for active community building, encouraging indigenous territoriality, development and land-use planning, and cultural survival. Published by UT Press (2020), Sletto’s book Radical Cartographies: Participatory Mapmaking from Latin America presents innovations and new trends in participatory mapping in Latin America with important implications for insurgent and radical planning practice.
Sletto’s practicums in the Dominican Republic have twice received the highest national student project award from the American Institute of Certified Planners. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation. Bjørn is an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Geography and the Environment, the Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, University of Texas.
In addition, Sletto has received teaching awards from the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, the School of Architecture, the University of Texas Alumni Association, and the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment (DIIA) at the University of Texas. Capping off this list of awards is Bjorn’s induction into the Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Honorees are given the title Distinguished Teaching Professor and serve for the duration of their tenure at The University of Texas at Austin.
Congratulations, Bjørn!
