Fairfield University students name Katherine Kidd, Ph.D 2002 Teacher of the Year

Fairfield University students name Katherine Kidd, Ph.D 2002 Teacher of the Year

Image: Katherine Kidd Katherine Kidd, Ph.D, director of the International Studies program at Fairfield University, has been named 2002 Teacher of the Year by members of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society.

Kidd's selection was based on her effectiveness in the classroom, her availability to students and her contributions to the university. She was honored May 15 during an alumni-sponsored Senior-Faculty brunch and will be the guest speaker at the Alpha Sigma Nu induction this fall.

Kidd's primary role is to assist students with applications for prestigious national scholarship programs, including the Fulbright and National Security Education programs. She encourages students to strive for an "internal standard" by constantly revising and improving their application essays.

Kidd also teaches three to four courses each year in the International Studies program. The program gives students an eye-opening - and sometimes hands-on - view of the world through class offerings on everything from the politics of Northern Ireland to the major powers of Asia to Third World economic development. Last spring, Kidd accompanied students in her "Justice in the Developing World" class on a weeklong trip to Nicaragua. "This isn't a major for the faint-hearted," she says. "It's a lifestyle major."

Kidd is also the university's co-director of a federally funded program that makes it possible for faculty members from the former Soviet Union to study at Fairfield. And she acts as a consultant to other universities seeking to "internationalize" their curriculum.

In addition, Kidd coordinates a volunteer program that gives students the opportunity to work with refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants, and moderates the Model U.N. group on campus.

Kidd was an adjunct professor of politics at Fairfield from 1991 to 1993, before heading across town to Sacred Heart University, where she was director of global studies and assistant professor of political science. She returned to Fairfield in 1997 and was named the first full-time director of the International Studies program.

She holds a bachelor's degree in history and German from Pacific Lutheran University; a master's degree in Soviet studies from Harvard; and a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kidd's interest in world culture is evidenced by her experiences abroad. She spent a junior year abroad at the University of Vienna and lived in the Netherlands as an American Field Service (AFS) student and in Argentina for the Lutheran World Federation. She has also volunteered for ecumenical programs in East Africa and Central America. At the end of the day, she calls Fairfield, Conn. home.

Posted On: 05-13-2002 09:05 AM

Volume: 34 Number: 229