School of International Service Dean James Goldgeier appointed SIS Professor Patrick Thaddeus Jackson to be the SIS Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education. Jackson will begin this position on July 1.
Jackson has served in the Office of the Provost as Director of General Education and the University College since April 2007.
“I really wanted to be able to put somebody in that role who is a tenured member of the faculty,” Goldgeier said.
Jackson will join current SIS Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Maria Cowles as the school’s second academic dean.
“There’s only been one academic dean in SIS despite [the fact] that it’s doubled in size,” Cowles said.
Jackson’s appointment is part of multiple changes in the school.
Immediate changes to the SIS program are expected next fall, with more adjustments to be made to the curriculum later, according to Cowles.
The faculty will release their decisions about the specific changes after a vote next month.
Cowles said the changes are aimed to promote a liberal arts focus on undergraduate degree.
“In the past in SIS we didn’t have a separate focus on the undergraduate program,” Jackson said.
Faculty, students and alumni have been meeting over the past year to discuss a revamp of SIS, according to Cowles and Goldgeier.
“[The goal is] making sure the curriculum is geared toward critical thinking and writing for the undergraduate students,” Cowles said.
The new undergraduate program will help define what it means to receive a liberal arts education in international relations, Jackson said.
“I’m aiming for SIS to be the best undergraduate liberal arts education in international relations in the country,” he said.
Goldgeier said when Jackson starts his position this summer, faculty members and students will meet to discuss changes to the undergraduate program.
“It will really start to emerge as a conversation as we start to think about the different possibilities [for the undergraduate program],”he said.
Jackson helped launch non-residential, first-year learning communities in his current position as director of University College and director of the General Education program.
“When I started doing University College there were nine or 10 sections, and next year we’re going to have 18,” he said.
Jackson recently participated in a review to map out a set of changes to the General Education curriculum.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about undergraduate education, and I hope to bring that to SIS,” he said.
Jackson, who earned a doctorate in political science from Columbia University in 2001, said he always knew he wanted to work in an academic setting.
“When I was six or seven, my nickname was ‘Professor,’” he said.
After finishing his undergraduate degree at Michigan University in 1994, Jackson said it made sense to continue his education instead of getting a job right away.
“Where I really felt the most at home was on campus,” he said.
Jackson will teach a 400-level class in SIS next summer called “Social Science Fiction” about the theme of world politics in science fiction films and books.
“Some issues involving relating to the Other are clearer in science fiction because it’s [dealing with] a whole different species,” he said.
Brina Malachowski is a freshman in SIS and the College of Arts and Sciences.
“He did a lot of great things for the University College program, so it makes sense that he’ll be able to do a lot for the undergraduates,” Malachowski said.
news@theeagleonline.com
