New Faculty

Problem-based thinking has led new faculty members to interdisciplinary inquiry

October 19, 2009

Dr. Monti Narayan Datta

Monti Narayan Datta, assistant professor of political science at the University of Richmond, first discovered his passion for international relations while teaching English in South Korea in the late 1990s. Fresh out of Berkeley, Datta saw the world from a non-western perspective for the first time. He began to think about the effects of U.S. foreign policy abroad, and became fascinated with how others see the United States.

That experience led him to pursue a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University and then his doctorate in political science at the University of California, Davis. At Richmond, Datta will teach introductory classes on global governance and a senior seminar on anti-Americanism.

Like many of the more than 30 scholars joining the Richmond faculty this year, Datta is eager to join the cross-school conversation that continues to develop on campus. Though grounded in political science, he predicts that his classes will appeal to students in other fields — particularly leadership studies majors and "anybody who wants to engage what's happening in international politics."

For example, Datta's senior seminar will not only examine the sources and consequences of anti-Americanism, but will also consider ways to improve the U.S. image abroad and ultimately help foster greater interstate cooperation.

Dr. David Lefkowitz

David Lefkowitz, associate professor of philosophy, is already deeply engaged in the University's interdisciplinary conversation. He left the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to coordinate Richmond's newly founded major in philosophy, politics, economics and the law (PPEL).

The PPEL program will encourage students to seek connections between the four fields of study. Benefitting from an interdisciplinary perspective, classes will focus on topics like climate change that require solutions that consider everything from costs and politics to fairness.

The program will begin to offer classes in fall 2010. In the interim months, Lefkowitz and a cross-school committee are designing the curriculum for new classes and defining which existing classes from the four departments will be offered as part of the major.

"It's quite challenging," Lefkowitz said of synthesizing material from all the disciplines. "Trying to communicate across four different disciplines means you have to do some 'translating.'"

But Lefkowitz is no stranger to interdisciplinary scholarship. As a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, he looked beyond the philosophy department to public policy and government courses in order to answer the questions that intrigued him. He spent the past year as a Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Research Fellow at Princeton University's Center for Human Values.

"I'm a problem-driven thinker," Lefkowitz said. "There are certain questions that I think are important to investigate and I like thinking about them. The problems that interest me are at the intersection of law, politics and philosophy."

Lefkowitz is focused on bringing together faculty who work in these areas, regardless of where their appointments lie. In addition to classes with faculty from the schools of arts and sciences, leadership studies and business, the PPEL program will offer classes taught by law professors — a rare opportunity for an undergraduate student at any institution.

Dr. Violet Tzu Wei Ho

In the Robins School of Business, associate professor Violet Tzu Wei Ho joins the management department. As a scholar of organizational behavior — a field that is interdisciplinary in nature — she is looking forward to working with students and faculty in other schools and disciplines.

"I draw on a lot of ideas and works in social psychology and sociology, and apply them to the organizational setting," she said of her research, which looks at social networks, counterproductive workplace behaviors and psychological contracts.

Ho taught at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore for the past seven years and previously taught at Carnegie Mellon University as a Ph.D. student. At Richmond, she will teach courses in organizational behavior and cross-cultural management — topics that will appeal to any student interested in challenges in the workplace.

"I think that organizational behavior is important because it can help us better understand, predict and manage many of the key challenges and issues that people face at work," Ho said, "Work will be a substantial part of students' lives after graduating."

Article ID: 38