FACULTY BIOS
Olayele Adelakun, Information Systems
Judy Bundra, Music Education
Julie DeRoche, Music Performance
Richard Farkas, Political Science
Joseph Ferrari, Psychology
Lisa Gundry, Management
Matt Irvine, Digital Cinema
Andrea Lyon, Law
Amber Settle, Computer Science
Bibiana Suárez, Art/Art History
Richard Farkas, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Political Science
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
What is the most rewarding aspect of teaching at DePaul?
University teaching creates two sorts of rewards. In the short term, it is special when students begin to share that excitement about discovering people and places beyond their personal horizons. That is the bulb flashes "on" sort of reward. But the greatest reward is the long term phenomenon when, after some years, an alum shares how the experience at DePaul has crystallized goals or made achieving them easier. As a professor in comparative politics, I know that what we do here creates a platform for citizenship and success in the globalized world of the 21st century. DePaul has chosen to emphasize the inter-dependent nature of our world in its curriculum.
What do you like best about DePaul students?
Our curriculum in Political Science is constructed around choice. Students are not required to take any one or any single sequence of courses. In my 30 plus years of experience at DePaul, students appreciate the fact that they can customize their studies to their interests. Students enter the classroom with a genuine curiosity about the subject matter and it is my job to build on that curiosity. DePaul students are good students without being pretentious. They know what they don't know, relish the opportunity to engage in learning, and take pride when they make real progress toward understanding themselves and the world in which we all live. Above all else, most want to become partners in the enterprise of learning.
What do students like best about the courses you teach?
Students appreciate the division of labor in universities like DePaul. They know that we are dedicated to teaching courses that focus on subjects that matter – to them and to our society. In Political Science, we teach courses about today and tomorrow which is naturally connected to their senses that what matters is how their lives play out tomorrow. I teach about distant political systems but in a special way that connects those lessons to our students' lives. Revolution, terrorism, change, violence … these are the realities around which we build our search for understanding. DePaul also creates numerous options for students to gain first-hand experience in distant parts of the world through its strong study abroad programs.
What has been your greatest success while teaching here?
"Success" is too strong a word to attach to the efforts of any one professor. I am sure that I have played a part in the development and confidence of many students who have marched or climbed their way through the DePaul experience. There are the obvious cases of prominent executives, dedicated public policy makers, and courageous crusaders for change in our world. But, in all honesty, I suspect that the greatest success has come quietly and invisibly in the thinking and in the hearts of graduates that make a difference on a smaller scale – in their workplace, in their families, or in their responsible behavior that enables society to function and persist. I think we may be successful in making the so called "silent majority" a bit less silent and a whole lot more sophisticated.
What makes DePaul different from other universities?
Actually, a great deal! I teach every one of my students. I see them in every class, I know their names, I grade their papers and exams, and I induce them to talk with me about their progress and their problems. I see their success as my success and their failure as my failure. I regularly commit to traveling and studying with them in the part of the world that I know. We are very different in that we resist the normal bureaucratic tendency to make rules that are insensitive to the individual's situation. In my experience at DePaul, our instinct is to say "yes" to a thoughtful request, then to set about seeing how we can make it happen. This "Vincentian" approach is very special in our learning community.
How would you describe the DePaul community -- the diversity of students, faculty and alumni?
In many universities, "diversity" is a slogan. At DePaul it is a commitment. But the real significance of this goes well beyond the simple variety of faces and places from which our students come. In my view, diversity is not the goal. It is a manifestation of the real goal – tolerance. Political reality and research validate that one of the most basic requisites for a healthy democratic system is tolerance … political, economic, and intellectual. Diversity is not about quotas or rights or homogenizing. Our society is constructed around challenges. We are different by our thoughts, abilities, performance as well as the more obvious characteristics. DePaul contributes by creating an environment in which students and faculty can take on the challenges and measure our performance. In essence, a community in which we can gauge how effectively we can tolerate and collaborate with one another.
What advice would you give to a student considering majoring in a Liberal Arts and Science concentration, such as political science?
First, recognize that you will be challenged. Second, as Malcolm Forbes has said, recognize that the purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an OPEN one. Third, recognize the immense cost of your formal education and work diligently to maximize it by engaging at every opportunity with your professors and the other resources in the university. Finally, recognize that our world changes so rapidly (at an ever accelerating pace) that your liberal education is likely to be your best insurance that you will be successful both in your first career but also in that second career that many will necessarily face in a lifetime. Political science is about managing people in the cause of serving people. As such the lessons are critically important to your professional life, your parenting skills, your social effectiveness or whatever other realm where you are likely to set goals and pursue them.
As a recognized expert in the politics of Central and Eastern Europe, can you tell us more what has drawn you to become an authority on this subject?
Considering that this personal choice of focus dates back to the late 1960s, the decision to study Communist political systems was one built on the high visibility and national concern for the challenge that Communism broached. It was intellectually intriguing given that those political systems were compulsive about keeping secrets and avoiding scrutiny. By the 1990s, virtually everything had changed. Communism collapsed and the critical question became: what will replace it? Since then, political scientists and others have been studying the "transition" from Communism to something else. For students in comparative politics, these transitions are remarkably rare opportunities to see political systems redesigning themselves under great stress and pressure. Over the recent years, hundreds of DePaul students have studied this dynamic with me and dozens have traveled and researched with me in Central and East Europe. Such efforts cast light on what democracy is and how difficult it is to create it.
What can you tell us about your experiences as an instructor for our Study Abroad programs?
For an academic who works to share insight about foreign often distant places, the opportunity to bring students to see for themselves the machinations of politics and how those affect real people is the ultimate gratification. Last I counted I had led twenty-two study abroad programs most through DePaul University. Our programs are generally intimate study experiences in places where the faculty bring very focused expertise. Without study abroad options, what I do in the classroom would be like orange juice without pulp. It is the ultimate enhancement that can and does change lives of students who find it possible to participate. While it always necessitates sacrifice of time and money, those that make the commitment benefit many times over. By far, those alums who stay in touch over the years are those who have shared the study abroad experience.
What else would you say to prospective students considering DePaul?
DePaul is an excellent choice if your priority is an undergraduate education in which you know and interact with your professors. If you are the sort of student who may need that bit of extra encouragement, guidance, challenge or criticism, DePaul will certainly serve you well. There are many universities that divide their time between undergrad and grad students, focus on faculty reputation or faculty research – all of which are important in the grand scheme of things academic. DePaul faculty balance their efforts to stay on the cutting edge of their respective disciplines. The difference is that we never lose sight of our primary clientele – the undergraduate student. We see clearly that our job is to help you reach your goals. I am confident alums would say that once your student days are formally over at DePaul, you will always be supported by the faculty in your continuing pursuit of your goals.
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