Stories

Dr. David E. Logothetti Teaching Award

In recognition for having established among colleagues and students a well-deserved reputation for an energetic, engaging, and effective teaching style, and having demonstrated the ability to motivate other teachers and learners.

Religious Studies faculty member Karen Peterson-Iyer, or KPI as her students affectionately call her, teaches one of the most popular courses on campus. Theology, Sex, and Relationships gives students space to have honest, careful conversations about the ethics of romantic and sexual relationships—topics many young adults have had little opportunity to explore.

Peterson-Iyer continually updates the course to address new questions and changing cultural realities, from dating apps to AI companions. The course is so well known that campus tours often mention it, along with an assignment that asks students to go on a date and reflect on the experience.

Her teaching reaches across a wide range of courses, including Human Trafficking, Bioethics, Christian Social Ethics and Contemporary Issues, and The Christian Tradition. In each, she draws on Ignatian pedagogy to help students think through meaningful frameworks for the issues that matter to them. Students say her courses help them become better thinkers and better people.

Congratulations to Karen Peterson-Iyer, recipient of the 2026 Dr. David E. Logothetti Teaching Award!