Rate My Professor Seth Howes

Seth Howes serves as Millsap Distinguished Professor and Associate Professor of German in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he joined the faculty in 2014 and was promoted to associate professor. He also holds the position of associate chair of the school. Howes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Michigan in 2012. His distinguished teaching and mentorship have earned him several prestigious awards, including the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2024, the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award in 2018, and the University of Missouri Graduate School’s Outstanding Director of Graduate Studies Award. Additionally, he received the Millsap Distinguished Professorship in 2025 for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to his field. Howes has significantly impacted undergraduate and graduate education through his dynamic classroom presence, leadership of study abroad programs in Germany, direction of theses and grant writing workshops as a faculty fellow in the MU Fellowships Office, and roles as faculty co-director of the MU Humanities Symposium for Undergraduate Research and advisor to the German Club. Colleagues and students praise his use of the Socratic method to empower students, foster self-confidence, and promote inclusive intellectual environments.