Kirkwood professor wins $50,000 prize for work in humanities

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Kirkwood Community College professor of philosophy and humanities has received a $50,000 award for his work.

Scott Samuelson, who has taught at Kirkwood since 2000, was named the 2015 winner of the Hiett Prize in the Humanities. The award recognizes candidates 'who are in the early stages of careers devoted to humanities and whose work shows extraordinary promise with a significant public component related to contemporary culture,' according to a news release.

Samuelson, 42, grew up in Ainsworth and now lives in Iowa City. In addition to teaching at Kirkwood's Iowa City campus, he volunteers as a philosophy teacher at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale.

'I'm really committed to bringing philosophy to all people and I believe that it has relevance to all people's lives,' Samuelson said. 'I'm always a little bit put off when there's this conception that humanities, or things like philosophy are only for the elites. I feel like we can all benefit from them.'

Samuelson said one of the reasons he loves teaching at Kirkwood is the 'tremendous mix of people.'

He is the author of a book titled 'The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone.'

'In that book, I try to open the doors of the great Western philosophical tradition as wide as I can and bring some of the big great ideas of philosophy down to Earth and show how they can relate to people's lives,' he said.

He also has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, the Atlantic and the Chicago Tribune.

Jennifer Bradley, executive dean of arts and humanities and English at Kirkwood who has known Samuelson for almost 10 years, said his teachings have a strong impact on his students.

'The way that Scott's students stay in touch with him long after they've been in class with him, to update him on their progress and what they're doing in their lives ...,' Bradley said. 'They often point to something in one of his classes as being sort of an 'a-ha' moment or a turning point for them in the way that they think about themselves and the lives they want to lead.

'That's the most powerful impact that any teacher can have.'

The Hiett Prize, which now is in its 11th year, is awarded by the Dallas Institute of Culture and Humanities. At the awards reception in Dallas, Bradley noted that the presenter said 'this is the first time that a community college faculty member had won the award.'

This is Samuelson's second national award in two years. The Community College Humanities Association named him the 2014 Distinguished Humanities Educator.