Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses   
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests   
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication Highlights   
Selected Scholarly Presentations

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• Assistant Professor of Political Science

Academic Background        

• Rutgers University, Ph.D. in Political Science, 1994
• Rutgers College, Master of Arts, 1988
• Rutgers College, Bachelor of Arts, 1982

• The American Presidency
• Service in Democratic Communities
• American Government
• Empirical Political Analysis
• Public Administration
• Foundations of Organizational Service

Teaching Philosophy

From time to time I bring food to class.  My colleagues often joke that I do so to curry favor, improve course evaluations, and promote my image as a nice person.  But feeding students is aimed at a goal more fundamental to my teaching philosophy: the sharing of sustenance.

I believe that teaching is not simply about imparting knowledge, although knowledge is central to education.  It is about forging a relationship, one built on mutual respect between all those involved in the process.  It is about trusting and being trusted, listening and being listened to, about learning from students as well as sharing insights and knowledge that I have accumulated over the course of my career. 

And so I see teaching as a vocation, one that forces me to renounce the use of podiums and lectures, two things that create literal and symbolic barriers between learners and learned.  It leads me to present myself as a fallible human, in the hope that this will demystify my role as professor. It leads me to use different books and different learning strategies each time I teach a course.  It leads me to remind my students that I am no smarter than they are, just older, more experience, and more widely read. 

Learning is a collective endeavor, one that requires cooperation between teachers and students, and one that must overcome the traditional boundaries between theory and practice, between classroom and community, and between teachers and students.  My teaching philosophy is premised on the belief that the best learning is collaborative, mutual, and tentative.  I teach because I have a thirst for knowledge, and teaching makes me a life-long learner.  And, I humbly believe, my students can learn a thing or two in the process.

Research & Interests

The American Presidency, politics and youth, community-based learning, public policy. 

Current Project: I am using my CAFR Grant, "Presidential Leadership and Head Start, 1962-2005," to examine the politics of the Head Start Program, specifically the evolution of presidential-congressional relations from President (Lyndon) Johnson's administration to the administration of President (George W.) Bush.

Notable Academic Appointments and Awards

• Research Support Grant, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library Foundation, Summer 2005.
• CAFR Grant, Providence College, to study presidential leadership in the Head Start Program, 2005.
• John R. Accinno Award for Excellence in Teaching, Providence College, May 2003.
• Undergraduate Academic Advisor of the Year, College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University, 1996-1997.

Publication Highlights

• "How to Read Your Internship: Sites as Text," in Mack Mariani and Grant Reeher, eds., The Insider's Guide to Political Internships (Westview Press, 2002).
• "Political Accountability in a Post-Partisan Era," in Paul Scheele, ed., We Get What We Vote For…Or Do We? (Greenwood Press, 1999).
• Education For Citizenship, coeditor (with Grant Reeher). (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997).
  A collection of essays by political scientists who integrate various teaching methods into classes, including service learning, computer applications and active learning techniques.
• "In Search of the Angry White Male: Gender, Race and Issues in the Congressional Elections of 1994," (with Grant Reeher), in Phillip Klinker, ed., The Elections of 1994. (Westview Press, 1995).
• "Putting It In Writing: An Examination of Candidate Platforms in the 1992 Presidential Election" (with Jim Josefson), Southeastern Political Review 15 (June, 1995), 187-204. 

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• Discussant, Faith-Based Organizations and the Delivery of Public Service, at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston.
• Community Service and Citizenship: Is Service Learning Essential? (with William Hudson and Richard Battistoni), presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C.
• Life is Too Hard For Politics: The Relationship Between Social Life and Political Involvement Among High School Seniors, presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.

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