David Montalvo has been selected to receive a 2025-26 Campus-Wide TA Award. He is one of eleven recipients of the Early Excellence in Teaching Award, which honors TAs with fewer than four semesters of teaching experience at UW–Madison.
David has been a TA for the courses Sociology of Race and Ethnicity in the U.S., Sociology of Gender, and Introduction to LGBTQ Studies, and is passionate about every one of those subjects.
David expressed gratitude to the course professors who provide the support and structural foundation necessary for him to be able to do his job. His favorite part of teaching, by far, is his students.
“I have students from all different majors and walks of life taking my classes who are all curious about the society around us,” David said. “They prove to me that it is always possible to discuss important and complex ideas and issues about society with respect, nuance and enthusiasm. Grad school is stressful as is, but my students help make the more difficult days feel worth it.”