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Straight shooter: Andersen uses outside experiences to encourage students to think critically

For Kristi Andersen, being an educator wasn’t always the plan.

‘I didn’t grow up thinking I wanted to be a teacher at all,’ Andersen said. ‘It was in college that I decided I wanted to do that.’

Andersen, a political science professor, has been teaching at Syracuse University for 26 years, after teaching for about eight years at Ohio State University. She gave her first lecture as the Chapple Family Professor for Citizenship and Democracy on Monday at 9:30 a.m.

Robert McClure held the professorship since its inception in 2006, according to a Dec. 8 article in The Daily Orange. After McClure announced his retirement last year, Mitchel Wallerstein, former dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, selected Andersen to fill the position.

‘To manage the Maxwell courses requires someone who can work effectively across all of the departments,’ McClure said. ‘By virtue of experience, interests, success, she was an obvious choice.’



Andersen received her undergraduate degree at Smith College and obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1976. As the Chapple Family Professor for Citizenship and Democracy, she is responsible for overseeing the three Maxwell courses offered to freshmen and sophomore undergraduate students. The courses are MAX 123: ‘Critical Issues for the United States,’ MAX 132: ‘Global Community’ and MAX 201: ‘Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences.’ In the courses, students are challenged to think about critical issues while developing their analytical and writing skills, Andersen said.

‘I think what the courses are trying to do is very critical, so I really enjoy being a part of that,’ Andersen said.

The courses are unique because they are interdisciplinary, and a team of professors from several different social sciences departments teach the course. Being on the interdisciplinary team has been valuable for her work, research and teaching, Andersen said.

McClure said if every faculty member at SU had all the qualities Andersen had, everyone would be a lot better off — particularly students.

Ken Alter, a junior political science major, took the MAX 123 course with Andersen his freshman year.

‘What I would say makes her a unique professor is the fact that she is a very good teacher while coming across more as a friend,’ Alter said. ‘You go to talk to her, and she has a very open-arms environment in her office.’

Heather Pincock, a graduate student working toward her doctorate in political science, has been both a student and a colleague of Andersen’s.

Pincock described Andersen as a ‘straight shooter’ and said she has the type of temperament needed to run the undergraduate Maxwell courses. She said Andersen has the type of personality that can push students to think more carefully.

But Andersen can also lighten the mood of a stressful classroom. Andersen has brought her dog, Kofi, to class to meet students and other faculty members before, Pincock said.

Pincock said she believes Andersen’s experience outside the classroom adds depth to her teaching.

‘I think she is a really good example of a professor who has integrated scholarly work with engagement in her community. That’s very clear if you look at things she has done with her time,’ Pincock said. ‘She is not a scholar who is limited to the university and academia. She is also very involved in local politics and is also a kind of public intellectual.’

On top of teaching at SU, Andersen is an author. She wrote the book ‘After Suffrage: Women in Partisan and Electoral Politics Before the New Deal’ in 1996 and has written several scholarly articles.

‘I like writing,’ Andersen said. ‘I think sitting down and figuring out how best to describe what you want to describe is really enjoyable.’

She also regularly appears on a local television program, ‘The Ivory Tower Half Hour.’ The show is broadcast on WCNY, and panelists comment on local, regional and national news events, according to the program’s website. Andersen has also served on the Town Board of Cazenovia for five years. As an elected official, she brings real-life experience to both her writing and her teaching.

‘It has made me even more sensitive to how democracy is carried out and how people interact with each other to make decisions,’ she said.

Despite the vast amount of work and success Andersen has achieved in other facets of her professional life, she is most proud of the recognition she has received for teaching and said she hopes to continue her past success in the new position.

‘It’s a course that has ambitious goals,’ Andersen said. ‘Maintaining this tradition in the Maxwell school, it’s an honor to be responsible for that.’

mjfahner@syr.edu





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