Gerald Hansen
| Name: | Gerald Hansen |
| Location: | Bloomington |
| Roles: | Staff, NonCredit, Faculty |
| Title: | Associate Professor of Philosophy |
| Building/Room Number: | D236/Main Campus |
| Bio: | TITLE: Associate Professor, Philosophy and Humanities; Director, Alternative Spring Break DEPARTMENT: Fine Arts and Humanities EDUCATION: Jerry's wide-ranging interests center on the interrelationship between the humanities, religion, and politics. To study these, Jerry earned associate's degrees in international studies and French at the two-year college in his Southeastern Idaho hometown. He then transferred to Brigham Young University for a bachelor's degree in international studies (emphasis in diplomacy) and a master's degree in interdisciplinary humanities. He went on to earn master’s degrees in political science at Utah State University and at Indiana University (the latter after six years studying political philosophy and comparative politics as a doctoral student). TEACHING: Jerry joined Ivy Tech Community College (Bloomington) in January 2016 to primarily teach courses in the philosophy and humanities. He has also taught or assisted courses in political science, history, religion, international studies, Romanian, and French at Ivy Tech, his four alma maters, and Ivy Hall Academy of Nursing (Utah). He has taught in multiple modalities including traditional, virtual, online. TEACHING PHILOSOPHY: Jerry wants to help cultivate in students the desire, skills, and confidence to become autodidacts (self-teachers) and to engage difference with understanding, civility, and empathy. He loves helping others learn to understand and appreciate peoples, cultures, and beliefs other than their own, and he believes a classical liberal arts education is essential for these efforts. Jerry interweaves his interdisciplinary training, narrative-based instructional design, and many visuals to help students better understand the peoples, places, and principles they are studying. Jerry has traveled, studied, worked, and lived abroad many times and draws heavily on materials and experiences gained during his travels to help enliven instruction and encourage students to seek opportunities for themselves. REGULAR COURSES: INTERESTS/RESEARCH: Jerry's professional interests are in international education, educational travel, and civic engagement; curriculum development; political philosophy; the ethics of community; narrative ethics; the role of civic religion in political identity formation; comparative religion and mythology; church-state relations; the ethics of international development, humanitarianism, and immigration policy. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: Jerry believes strongly in the instructive ability of direct civic engagement service-learning opportunities helps organize these for students and faculty through Bloomington’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program. As program director, he has led groups to study Mayan culture in the Mexican Yucatan (2018), help refugees at a donation warehouse in Northern France (2019), and serve the homeless and others at a soup kitchen in South London (2020). Along the way they also explore other cultures and ideas through the museums, sites, food, and entertainment of the area. Jerry also designed and organized "Classics in the Classroom," a community engagement program designed to help connect Ivy Tech faculty and students with students and faculty in the Monroe County Community School Corporation. He continues to seek new ways to help improve community engagement and understanding. See the links below for more information: |
Contact Information
| Email: | ghansen3@ivytech.edu |
| Work Phone: | 812-330-6281 |
| Fax: | |
| Website: | http:// |