Politics - Faculty
Richard Bank
Professor of Politics
B.A., University of Denver
M.A., Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara
I came to Santa Fe to teach at St. John’s College. When it became apparent to me that St. John’s did not value political activism, I began looking around and discovered CSF and its activist roots in the LaSallean tradition. I was drawn to the idea of a College founded in part on the principle of service to the poor and underprivileged. The Brothers are a continuing inspiration to me.
My classes are discussion based. I use original sources as texts: so, for example, in political theory courses we read works by Plato, Hobbes, Marx, and so on, rather than works about them, and in the law courses we read cases.
Students who take my courses want to know why things have gone wrong--why there is poverty, racism, sexism, war, etc., and they are actively seeking alternative visions and strategies for realizing those visions. Outside of class they often come to me with questions about the ethics and politics of situations they find themselves in. We talk about justice, and freedom, and friendship, and power and its abuses.
Some of my students and I have been involved projects related to the labor movement and living wage campaigns in Santa Fe. Of particular note is the Labor History Calendar project, which involved nine students traveling to four Southwestern states to accumulate archival photographs and stories, subsequently published as a calendar, and distributed to labor unions and related organizations throughout the Southwest.
A. Robert Jessen
Associate Professor, Director of the Politics Program
B.A., Dartmouth College
M.A., Ph.D., Northwestern University
Associate Professor of Political Science A. Robert Jessen is interested in diversity of all dimensions. His dissertation focused on impacts of globalization on economic policies in rural Mexico and the Tarahumara Indians of the Sierra Occidental. Other interests include environmental politics, nationalism and development. Dr. Jessen established a field study program in national parks for CSF students.
(800) 456-2673 or (505) 473-6133 * Fax: (505) 473-6127 * admissions@csf.edu