Routinely lecturing to about 400 students in a single class every year can prove daunting to some professors. However, Professor Benjamin Ginsberg, the Bernstein Chair in Political Science and recipient of the 2000 George Owen Teaching Award, embraces the opportunity to teach Introduction to American Politics (IAP) every fall.
Born in Germany, Professor Ginsberg grew up in Chicago, right next to the famed University of Chicago.
"When it was time to go to college, my family just assumed that I would attend Chicago," Ginsberg said.
It was there that Ginsberg met his future mentor, Professor Hans J. Morgenthau. Ginsberg says that in addition to being an excellent teacher, Morgenthau was "An exponent of Orealpolitik' and loved shattering students' illusions in class." There, Ginsberg also studied with Professor Theodore Lowi. The two later collaborated to produce a series of widely used textbooks on American government. While at Chicago, Ginsberg entertained the idea of going to law school, though he ultimately decided against it and set forth on the path to academia.
What initially attracted professor Ginsberg to political science is the fact that the field plays a pivotal role in the lives of a huge number of people around the world and that its "interplay between institutions and individual interests and preferences" is unique.
"It's always amazing?to watch people lie, cheat and steal in pursuit of political power? I observe it but I still can't understand it," said Ginsberg.
Professor Ginsberg taught at Cornell University for 20 years before coming to Hopkins. When the head of the Department of Political Science at Hopkins offered Ginsberg a teaching position, Ginsberg jumped at the offer.
"I looked outside my window in Ithaca, N.Y., saw three feet of snow and said I was very interested," he explained. "Hopkins offered me the Bernstein Chair in Political Science; I dug myself out of the snows of upstate New York and moved to the sunny South."
Teaching at Hopkins comes with its benefits. Ginsberg appreciates teaching at Hopkins because here, the "undergraduates take ideas seriously."
"They are smart and interesting and its fun to interact with them in the classroom and in one-on-one settings," he said.
His advice to aspiring students of political science, as well as all other fields, is to put the pencil to the paper.
"Do as much writing as you possibly can. Whatever career you pursue, the ability to write is crucially important," he said.
When away from his Hopkins work load, Ginsberg can be found playing tennis (twice weekly) or taking dancing lessons with his wife. He admits that the "swing, hustle and cha-cha are [their] favorites." Hobbies are an important facet of life to Professor Ginsberg.
"[They] preserve your sanity when work and other pressures become intense," said Ginsberg. He is also a big fan of the new athletic center and praises its facilities. At home, Ginsberg is the proud owner of many animals, including a "horse, three dogs, two cats, a parrot, cockatiel, parakeet and a turtle." His favorite TV show is Law & Order; he claims to have seen every episode at least three times. However his bad memory makes each viewing just as surprising and enjoyable as the first. On vacation, Professor Ginsberg enjoys traveling south of the border to Mexico.
Professor Ginsberg's most recent book is titled Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined Its Citizens and Privatized Its Public , which he co-authored with Matthew Crenson, another member of the Hopkins Department of Political Science. The book, Ginsberg says, discusses the "declining role of ordinary citizens in American politics." In times past, Ginsberg explained, the U.S. government needed the active support of its citizens. The citizens provided the government with a source of revenue via taxation and a source of defense, via "citizen soldiers". Today, the relationship between the U.S. government and its citizens is one in which the citizens' roles are greatly reduced.
"Today, the government raises its funds on the bond market and through tax withholding that doesn't offer an opportunity for tax resistance. In place of citizen soldiers we now have professional armies and high-tech weaponry," he said.
Ginsberg's upcoming book, also to be co-authored with Crenson, deals with a pervasive theme in modern American politics: presidents overstepping their constitutional power.
"I am going to be paying a lot of attention to this issue in IAP," he said.
While a far cry from the snowy terrain of Cornell, exactly what would Ginsberg change about the Homewood campus? He admits that the "lack of parking" is bothersome and echoes students' sentiments when he states that the "faculty club food is inedible."
The next time you step into your IAP class with Ginsberg, come prepared for his insightful lectures and his dramatic presentations. When asked whom he would cast to play himself in the Hollywood version of his life, Ginsberg said, "I would cast myself... Lecturing in IAP has definitely prepared me for a stage and screen career.
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