Political science professor, student impress movers and shakers

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 9/1/07


Political Science professor Robert King and a former student attended the 103 Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the American Political Science Association at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago over Labor Day weekend and presented a proposal to the movers and shakers of the discipline.

King and Carlos Tejeda Gonzalez, a former GPC student, were given fifteen to twenty minuets on Saturday afternoon to present "Losing Public Space, 'Practicing' Political Literacy" to an audience King said "were fascinated by it… it was great to be there and show them what we're doing."

What King is doing is trying to get his students to develop their political voices starting with 'thought pieces'. Enter former students like Gonzalez; in King's online and hybrid political science courses on WebCT, students post on message boards and discuss issues with former students who act as "instigators and mentors" and, according to King, spur his students into thinking about a topic or position and responding.

The purpose of the exercise is to test the ideas students have against other ideas. The blog or message boards offer students an opportunity to practice their opinions as well as discuss issues and weigh arguments and facts against these ideas.

Encouraging this open dialog is important for the formation of a strong political voice. Too often, King said, he has seen his students on the outside of this forum that, in the absence of citizen's political voices, has been dominated by 'government and big media'. "So all my students, outside looking in, say, 'Oh, this is what I'm supposed to think.'" Class by class, King is beginning to change students' minds about their roles in the political arena, and this online exercise is another way to further this goal.

King and Gonzalez hope to eventually publish the presentation that they gave at the APSA meeting, but there is more work needed on the paper, and both will be busy this term; King is teaching 5 classes this semester, and Gonzalez both became a father and began Law School at Georgia State University this semester.

Gonzalez came illegally to the U.S. in his late teens and, at 32, began taking courses at GPC. He had "an insatiable curiosity and a really quick mind," King said of the student who was named Political Science Outstanding Student of the Year at Clarkston before continuing to GSU for his bachelors. Gonzalez, who was working on a brief in his spare time during the meeting, was able to attend thanks to a small grant from Scientific Atlanta that covered his expenses.

King hopes to begin this exercise for his three current online classes in an effort to engage them with the help of former students like Gonzalez.

"The classroom," King said, "Just isn't enough."