MEADVILLE, Pa. – May 4, 2009 – Daniel M. Shea, Allegheny College political science professor and director of the Center for Political Participation, has been appointed by the Great Lakes Colleges Association as an Endeavor Fellow of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance.
A multilateral partnership of liberal arts institutions around the world, the Global Liberal Arts Alliance was designed to strengthen education in the liberal arts and sciences. The Alliance is made possible through the support of the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation.
Serving as a short-term visiting fellow, later this month Shea will travel to the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts in Slovakia to provide assistance in the design and implementation of faculty development programs that focus on interactive and non-lecture pedagogy.
“The Alliance’s strength derives from expertise and experience sharing, and its emphases are on the challenges and opportunities facing institutions that educate graduates for citizenship and leadership in the highly-globalized twenty-first century,” said Richard Detweiler, president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association.
“As a trailblazer in the activities of the Alliance, and the first recipient of this fellowship, Shea will, we are certain, return with important insights about ways that the effectiveness of the program can be enhanced.”
Shea has dedicated his career to discovering and implementing innovative teaching methods that better engage students.
As part of the launch of his textbook in American government, Living Democracy, Shea was asked by its publisher, Pearson Education, to conduct teacher-training programs across the country in the spring of 2007. These daylong active-learning seminars were held in seven cities: New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Berkeley, Calif., and Springfield, Mo.
In 2002 Shea founded Allegheny College’s Center for Political Participation, which is dedicated to fostering an appreciation for the vital link between an engaged, active citizenry and a healthy democracy.
An expert on American electoral politics, especially as it relates to young voters, Shea is a reliable resource for journalists worldwide, having provided insight to reporting for news organizations including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Gannett and McClatchy, as well as for specific publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Roll Call, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Campaigns & Elections, Salon.com and others.
Shea has written or edited 12 books on the American electoral process. He has served as a professor at Lafayette College and the University of Akron and has worked in politics with the New York State Assembly. He has a bachelor of arts in political science and American studies from the State University of New York at Oswego and a master of arts in campaign management/applied politics from the University of West Florida. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Albany.
