Rebecca Torstrick, associate professor of anthropology at Indiana University South Bend, received a Founders Day award during ceremonies at IU Bloomington on Saturday, Feb. 28.

Torstrick received a President’s Award, which was established in 1974 to recognize outstanding teaching, research or service on all the IU campuses. Nineteen faculty members and two doctoral students were recognized in Bloomington. The other award recipients teach at IU Bloomington, Indianapolis and IU East at Richmond.

Founders Day was first called Foundation Day to remember the founding of the university. Each year, the university recognizes exceptional faculty members and students.

Currently, Torstrick is a Fulbright Scholar and is continuing her research in Acre, Israel. She studied the relationships between Palestinians and Jews in Acre for two years from 1987 to 1989, and again in 1990 and 1998. Her book on the tensions and relationships, “The Limits of Coexistence: Identity Politics in Israel,” was published in 2000.

“Most people who do research on Israel are either Jewish or Palestinian. As neither, I am in a very small category of outsiders who have done research in Israel,” she said. Following the completion of her year in Israel, Torstrick will become the director of the Women’s Studies program at IU South Bend.

Torstrick received her doctorate in anthropology from Washington University, St Louis, in 1996. She also has a master’s degree in education from Washington University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is originally from Louisville, Ky.

She became a natural observer of people as she grew up. “We moved a lot. Every new place I had to learn how to fit in, find how things were done and make new friends. I developed a love for archaeology while in high school and pursued that as part of my BA degree. However, I discovered later while doing a master’s degree, that I was far more interested in studying living human beings.”

In regards to the award, “I am completely overwhelmed and overjoyed. I feel honored and humbled to join the company of all the other incredible teachers who have received this award over the years. I am incredibly grateful that I teach at a university that takes teaching so seriously and rewards people for doing well,” she said. “I am fortunate to be at a campus where colleagues and administrators encouraged me to dream big and then were willing to provide the support needed to help realize those dreams. I did not become a good teacher in a vacuum or by my own efforts solely. Teaching excellence is a product of supportive communities that encourage and support it as teachers try to do better and better. The award is not just mine; it’s a credit to our campus and my colleagues as well.”