Letter from the Chair

Jeff Legro
Photo by Sean Gallagher

Dear Friends,

According to ritual we have returned again to Grounds for the start of fall term and another academic year. It has been raining and even chilly on the odd night. But we are dry and warm.

Mr. Jefferson’s University is a cocoon of sorts—a place that looks out on the world yet is protected and contained. On the Lawn astonishing architecture, interesting people, and provocative theories surround us. Somewhere on the other side of the Rotunda is another reality—we can hear it, we often venture into it, but at least for four years, most of us study things apart from it.

But we aren’t so far removed. Unmistakably—as you’ll see from this issue of our newsletter—what we teach and study in the department of Politics does indeed have import in that “real” world. In the first article you will meet a number of our grads who are thriving in the cause of campaigns and government. What a time for it—Washington Post columnist David Broder has called 2008 “the election of a lifetime.”

And what could be more central—in a year when a biracial man is on one side of the ticket and a white woman on the other—than understanding how race and gender might affect who becomes the next president? It turns out that the Department of Politics has a number of experts with insights on what might lay ahead on November 7, 2008.

Politics folk are engaged in matters in the world beyond the United States as well. Read for example how Emmerich Wright Prize winner Victoria Crandall finds herself in Syria this year. She is building on knowledge gained at U.Va. to better understand a critical city, country, and region in global politics.

Many of you have dutifully reported to classes taught by Professors Copeland, Owen, and me that have explored at great length theories of international relations and foreign policy. Few however know that these ideas have also been of interest to the U.S. government. In this issue read how IR theory U.Va. style is informing the nation’s intelligence assessment.

Finally, if there is an archetype of the academy removed from the world it is political theory. The ideas of the great thinkers who through the ages have considered how politics should operate are fascinating but sometimes are removed from how politics do operate. Yet take a look at one political theorist, George Klosko, who is out in the field testing to see if people actually act the way philosophers assume. He is one of the reasons why the Department’s political theory group was ranked among the ten best in the country.

Whether you are on Grounds or in the Beyond, we hope your fall is also off to a good start. Please drop us a line to let us know what you are up to so we can share the news. And if you have time, let us know if there was a course that you took in the Department that you found particularly useful. Just send an e-mail to .

Best regards,

Jeff Legro
Professor and Chair