Saint Michael's College

Title: Professor of Political Science

Education: B.S., M.S. Utah State University; Ph.D. Brandeis University

Areas of Expertise/Research Interests: I am a long-time AIDS scholar and activist and I am the faculty advisor to Saint Michael's chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC).

Testimonial: People here take the mission of the college seriously. We sometimes debate the meaning of the mission, but even that suggests to me that we care about what it means and how we make it come to life on campus.

What do you like most about teaching/working at Saint Michael's College? Saint Michael's College has been very supportive of my attempts to integrate my teaching, scholarship and service into everything I do. I feel like I have the opportunity to build on the great work of others who have been here longer than me and who have been working on social justice in and outside of the classroom for many years. I also appreciate the chance to work intensively with students who are interested in going beyond the material taught in a class to do service and experiential learning, as well as research and advocacy work.

What inspires students the most in your classes and/or your academic area? I like to think that many of the students in my classes and in political science generally are there because they want to help improve the world, and they're interested in learning the tools for doing that.

What do you like about Saint Michael's students? I appreciate that so many of them are open to new ideas and growth opportunities while they are here.

What is your favorite class to teach, and why? PO 351-- Politics of the Global AIDS Pandemic. This course lets me combine my strongest interests as a teacher, a researcher and an activist. It draws students from all kinds of majors, and gives us all an opportunity to have an extended, semester-long conversation about a critical global problem, and what we plan to do about it.

What kinds of unique opportunities are available to students in your classes or department? I think PO 351-- Global Politics of AIDS and PO 352-- HIV/AIDS in East Africa are pretty unique opportunities for students. Both allow students to look at a very important issue in depth, and both give students opportunities to put their knowledge into action through advocacy and service learning. PO 351 is a prerequisite for PO 352, which actually takes students to East Africa for a 2-3 week period. I have also done many independent study and independent research projects with students who got interested through these classes and wanted to keep going.

Favorite quote: "Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw