Since his arrival at Ball State in 1995, Wes Janz has demonstrated creative and innovative teaching. Each of his classes becomes a collaborative learning process in which the material -- no matter how many times it has been taught -- is always fresh.

One of these classes was a seminar that interviewed architects from around the world regarding their work addressing social and environmental issues in relation to the built environment. The course was at once innovative, subversive, timely and timeless.

In fall 2004, he brought in two practitioners from I-Beam Design architects in New York to help construct experimental architecture using wooden pallets. The structure occupied the field north of the college and was constructed over a weekend. At one level, it was a deadly serious endeavor that had implications well beyond Muncie because it recycled waste pallets into viable shelters. These implications were recognized by the Wall Street Journal Online as it covered the tsunami-ravaged region of southern Asia.

Janz and colleagues Tim Gray and Nihal Perara continued this experiential learning project in Sri Lanka the following semester. Sri Lankans and Ball State students and faculty worked together to rebuild a devastated village. Their work was reported by Architectural Record, this country's major architectural journal. By the beginning of spring semester 2006, the village housing was finished, and Janz and his students were working on the design of the village's community building.

He constantly involves students beyond the traditional classroom. Students have visited prisons and courtrooms to explore ideas of social justice and built form; they spent hours with the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court designing a new law school; and they constructed a full-scale hospital room for an interdisciplinary class taught with nursing.

But there are other forms of teaching in which Janz excels. First, he lectures widely around the country and the world, teaching peers as well as students. Secondly, he stays in touch with former students, answering dozens of e-mails weekly and exchanging ideas. Finally, he has created a blog that has been widely recognized for its content.

Great teaching yields great results, and certainly his teaching indicates how powerful the educational enterprise can be.