The Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching is awarded each year to a faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional skill and talent as an instructor. Nominations from faculty and students are carefully evaluated by a panel of former Edgar M. Carlson Award winners and discussed at great length before making a recommendation to the dean of the College. Each year the panel looks for someone who has not only demonstrated great expertise in his or her own field, but who has the ability to communicate this knowledge to students with great effectiveness.
This year’s winner is Professor Ronald S. Christenson of the political science department. It’s only been a few short years since Professor Christenson charged out of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, to conquer the academic world-first to take his bachelor ‘s degree from Wisconsin State University/Eau Claire, and then his MA and PhD in political science from the University of Minnesota. He is an award winning writer, a former Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow. He has been a member of the Gustavus faculty since 1969. His students and colleagues describe him as a man with serious moral and intellectual concerns, who is “thoughtful,” “intellectual,” “enthusiastic,” “knowledgeable,” and “fair.”
As a political scientist, Professor Christenson is primarily interested in political theory and law, with a special interest in political trials, civil religion, free speech, and human rights. A brief sample of his many published articles includes “What is a Political Trial?,” “The Civil Religion of Apartheid: Afrikanerdom’s Covenant,” and “The Political Theory of Male Chauvinism: J.J. Rousseau’s Paradigm.” His paper, “The Political Theory of Political Trials,” won the Anderson Outstanding Paper Award for 1983 from the Academy of Criminal Justice. He has also published three books, including his 1986 ground-breaking work, Political Trials: Gordian Knots in the Law.
His interest in politics and community, however, does not stop with his theoretical work. Over the years he has been active in a number of national and international organizations, serving, for example, as a consultant on human rights for the Lutheran Church in the 1970s, and serving as a member of the Standing Committee for World Community for the Lutheran World Federation during the 1980s. He is also a founding member and past coordinator of the Saint Peter chapter of Amnesty International. But what is perhaps less well known, and which may say even more about Dr. Christenson’s commitment to community, is the fact that he has been a Meals On Wheels driver in Saint Peter since 1979.
Today, however, we are recognizing him for his excellence as a teacher, for his ability to make the life of the mind a real and vital concern for his students. Student letters of nomination for Professor Christenson spoke eloquently of his ability to communicate creatively and enthusiastically his knowledge and love of political theory and law. His students’ obvious respect for his work was repeatedly expressed in terms of his always being willing to help, always being willing to spend extra time, always encouraging free expression, free thought in the classroom, always encouraging students to challenge his own views, his own theories-to think for themselves, in short, to think things through, but at the same time, insisting that they make a serious and honest effort to understand the views of others. As one student noted, he is simply “one of the cornerstones of the College.”
This view, I hasten to add, is not limited to his students. A short time ago I was talking to a fellow faculty member on campus, and I asked him what his plans were for the summer. His reply, I thought, was very interesting. He said, “This summer I’m going to read, write, and think as much as I possibly can. I’m going to have a Ron Christenson summer.” Now if I can extend that concept of an intellectual summer into four seasons, then it’s quite clear that one of our primary goals at Gustavus is to have a Ron Christenson year, every year.
Professor Christenson, on behalf of your colleagues and students, and in recognition of your scholarship and pedagogical excellence, it is my pleasure to present you with the 1993 Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Presented by Douglas Huff
Professor of Philosophy
1992 Recipient of the Carlson Award
Leave a Reply