Former MP to teach at U of W in 2016

After being a member of parliament for 13 years, former Windsor-Tecumseh MP Joe Comartin will be using his experiences to teach parliamentary politics at the University of Windsor.

Comartin retired more than a year ago and during that time, he decided he would like to teach at the University of Windsor. His first seminar class will begin on Jan. 13, 2016 and will include 20 fourth-year political science students. By taking his class, these students may have the chance to co-author research articles with Comartin and other members of the political science faculty for publication.

Although Comartin approached the University of Windsor political science faculty when he retired, he said he has been thinking about teaching at the university for four or five years now.

Comartin said his main reason for wanting to teach at the university is that he wants to publish research papers which will outline why the government should abolish first-past the post voting in favour of mixed-member proportional voting. According to Comartin, first-past the post is an undemocratic voting process and considering there are only three democratic governments that use it including Canada, it should be abolished.

He also said his publications will outline ways to potentially reform the senate by making it so the public has better communication with those on the federal level outside of election season.

By being at the university, not only does he get to go back to where his political education started, he gets to work alongside students who could have ideas he hasn’t thought of yet.

“I’ve learned approaching life from a social democratic standpoint that oftentimes collective work is more effective than individuals and I suppose I’m also recognizing that I have limitations and I may not be seeing all perspectives,” said Comartin. “So bringing in additional people who hopefully have strong opinions of their own, you can hammer out some of the best solutions for the county.”

The former MP plans to teach only fourth-year seminars because he said he wants to work with students who are past the learning stage and are ready to analyze. So as it stands, he will not be teaching any first or second year classes or seminars.

According to John Sutcliffe, the department head for the political science program, political science graduates have two options. Either students will work towards getting their doctorate and becoming professors or they will work in the political sphere.

The university only hires those with doctorates but Sutcliffe said sometimes there are exceptions if the person has extensive political experience. Comartin is one of these exceptions who has extensive experience which most of the university political professors do not.

“I mean just because we are potentially experts in political science that doesn’t by any stretch of the imagination mean we’d be excellent politicians,” said Sutcliffe. “Probably some of us like to think we would be and we know what to do but it is a very different world from the research, the academic piece.”

Comartin will be considered a distinguished visiting political science professor, meaning he will only teach the one course to provide his experience to the upper-level students.

For Ronnie Haidar, a political science graduate who returned to the program to specialize in law and politics, being one of the 20 students who are enrolled in Comartin’s class is exciting.

Like Sutcliffe, Haidar said he recognized Comartin’s experiences will be beneficial to his education.

He said taking the seminar will mean more discussion and less relaying what students read in textbooks.

“It’s an opportunity for students to speak, to articulate their opinions, their thoughts, how they think about a certain issue, how their opinions are on another issue and instead of relaying or articulating those opinions or those thoughts to a book that can’t answer back or can’t give context or cannot give specific details, we’re giving it to somebody who has lived whatever it is that we’re studying…” said Haidar. “So we’re not getting a one-sided conversation. Instead, we’re having a dialogue between a student whose curious and interested and a professional whose lived the part and now is practicing and sharing his successes and his experiences.

According to Comartin, his seminar classes will probably only last two or three years. So for those interested for fall 2016, it is important to sign-up quickly, since there are only around 20 spots per seminar and they fill up fast.

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