Political Science Department Names Replacement for Professor Dalton

Barnard professor and internationally recognized scholar Dennis Dalton, who has taught the same two-semester political theory sequence since 1969, will give his last lecture this Thursday. The announcement of his retirement shook up Barnard’s political science department, which has not needed to recruit someone to teach political theory in nearly 40 years, thanks to Dalton’s lengthy and much-acclaimed tenure.

To fill the gap, Ayten Gundogdu will join the department to teach courses on political theory and human rights. Gundogdu hails from Istanbul, Turkey, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota, where she will defend, at the end of this summer, her dissertation on the rights of non-citizens. She previously worked at Minnesota as a teaching assistant and a graduate instructor. Her research interests include the history of political thought, democratic theory and citizenship, human rights, and international ethics.

Gundogdu was selected from over 100 applicants for the position. She stood out with her “qualifications, teaching ability, and personality,” according to Barnard political science chair Kimberly Marten.

“There was overwhelming support for Ayten—she was everybody’s favorite,” Marten said, referring to the enthusiasm of students and faculty members who heard Gundogdu deliver a demo lecture during the selection process.

Aside from her academic qualifications, political science professor Richard Pious said Gundogdu has “social capital,” meaning she is well-connected within her field. “She’s worked with some very top people in the field, so that impressed us,” he said.
Gundogdu, conversely, was impressed by Barnard. She said she is “looking forward to teaching in an environment that cultivates a high level of self-motivation and engagement among students.”

Gundogdu described Dalton’s political theory courses as “legendary,” and expressed admiration for his “extraordinary ability to attract students to political theory.” Rather than being nervous about filling his shoes, she said she looks forward to using Dalton’s example as a “critical resource” in helping her develop her own teaching style.

Dalton—whose research throughout his career has focused on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and the general philosophy of nonviolence—is “probably the best teacher in the college,” Pious said.

Jessica Reinis, BC ’09, who has Dalton as her adviser, said he made a huge impact on her academic career. “When he teaches, he becomes the philosopher—he’s not just an educator,” Reinis said.

One major change students will encounter in Gundogdu’s classes will be the way she designs the course. Instead of teaching the major texts in chronological order, Gundogdu said she will organize the material thematically. The course will focus on political problems such as the tension between justice and law, challenges of democratic citizenship, and gender inequalities, with each theme centered on a key text in the history of political thought. In so doing, Gundogdu said she hopes to show students that the texts are not “antiquities of a bygone era,” but rather sources that can “help us see the most pressing political problems in new ways.”

Professor Marten said Gundogdu will “obviously fit very well into the Barnard community” as an “excellent teacher and an excellent researcher.”

On Dalton’s retirement, Marten said, “We wish he could stay forever, but we have to let people retire.”

zeynep.memecan@columbiaspectator.com