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In Focus

IDS CROSS APPOINTED FACULTY

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What it is:

Collaboration, inter-disciplinary thinking, and global minded scholarship are pillars in International Development.

Did you know that IDS has some 30 cross-appointed professors in other departments who help us meet these goals? Ā 

They all have interests in globally-focused research and teaching, and they are here to mentor IDS students.Ā  Our cross-appointed faculty teach ā€œIDS Approvedā€ courses, offer graduate classes, and they serve as honours and Masterā€™s supervisors.

What we are doing:

We caught up with three of our cross-appointed faculty to understand how they see their role in our department.Ā  John Kirk, Professor in Spanish and Latin American Studies, says that he shares his experiences ā€œanyway he canā€. Ā 

Prof. Kirkā€™s , as he offers several IDS Approved classes, and regularly supervises honours and graduate students.Ā 

Elizabeth Fittingā€™s innovative work on food activism highlights the complexity of the worldā€™s food systems and how important informed activism is in protecting them.Ā  ā€œA lot of IDS students are interested in the politics of foodā€, says Prof. Fitting, Associate Professor in SOSA. ā€œMany students coming into my class are activists, and I learn a lot from them, too.ā€Ā 

Anders Hayden, Associate Professor in Political Science, reminds his students that ā€œthere are important connections around issues of climate change, environmental sustainability and global development.ā€Ā  Prof. Haydenā€™s courses on climate change are popular IDS Approved courses for our IDS majors.

Learn more:

Check out our other IDS cross-appointed faculty.Ā  They offer many exciting courses for our degree requirements.Ā  Many of them are also willing to serve as honours and Masters supervisors. Ā 

Get engaged:

Send them emails, or visit their office hours to learn more about the great work that they do. Ā 

Say ā€œhelloā€ to your cross appointed professors:

John Kirk

Prof. Kirk has supervised many honours and masters students in IDS.Ā  ā€œIā€™m happy to work, share, and learn with them. And to look at the development process as it relates to Latin America and Cuba.ā€ Ā 

Engaged, and committed, to contemporary development issues in Cuba, Prof. Kirk has a famous anecdote about .Ā  While every student showed up for the preeminent class, Mr. Castro failed to show up at the last minute. Ā 

Prof. Kirk is an active member of our cross-appointed community.Ā  ā€œI meet with students, collaborate with the core faculty, and I try to make myself as open and visible and welcoming as possible.ā€ Ā 

ā€œSo many facets help to complete ā€˜the big pictureā€™.Ā  IDS brings it all together through their interdisciplinary approach.Ā  Philosophically, I feel connected with the essential goals of the IDS program.ā€ Ā 

Anders Hayden

Strong social and political responses to climate change are growing increasingly urgent. Anders Hayden's work tries to make sense of the range of options. Having conducted research on - business-as-usual, ā€œ,ā€ and a politics of ā€œsufficiency,ā€ Prof. Haydenā€™s work raises questions about alternatives within international development.

ā€œIā€™m doing research on alternatives to GDP (Gross Domestic Product), as a measurement of well-being and prosperity, which raises questions about what is really at the core of development.ā€

ā€œI teach environmental politics of climate change. There are many IDS students who take these classes. There are obviously important connections around issues of climate change, environmental sustainability and global development."

ā€œIā€™m a strong believer in interdisciplinary work. I think that it is advantageous forĀ  students to see things through the lens of more than one discipline, and to find approaches to an issue through a niche of their own.ā€

Elizabeth Fitting

Elizabeth Fitting loves it when she sees IDS students taking their passions from the class to the community.Ā  ā€œCommunity bond, not just scholarly dutyā€ is at the heart of activism.Ā  ā€œI have seen IDS students in my class doing really meaningful civic engagement.ā€

Prof. Fitting has supervised IDS honours students, and she has taught reading courses for graduate students.Ā  ā€œA lot of IDS students are interested in the politics of food. It is nice when Iā€™m teaching a course like food activism, and there are committed activists in the course.ā€ Ā 

ā€œI learn from them, tooā€.

"Take my classes!Ā  Come chat in office hours.Ā  I love it when students and get in touch.ā€