Harry Hirsch
Harry Hirsch, Professor of Politics and Comparative American Studies, received his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. His specialties are constitutional law and jurisprudence, gender and sexuality, and modern political theory. He has published several books and numerous articles on constitutional theory and practice, gay rights and politics, and the First Amendment. He teaches courses on constitutional law, gay and gender politics, and American political thought.
Hirsch was Dean of the College for the 2005-6 school year.
Contents |
[edit] Courses
[edit] Fall 2008
On Leave
[edit] Spring 2009
- POLT 206: Politics of Sexual Minority Communities
- POLT 233: American Political Thought
[edit] Tenure as Dean
Hirsch came to Oberlin in fall 2005 as the Dean of the College from Macalester College in Minnesota, where he was a professor of politics and was well regarded by faculty, students, and staff for gathering consensus on a myriad of academic and administrative issues. He held the position for a little over a year before abruptly resigning. As part of the standard agreement for hiring a dean or related senior position, he had automatically been granted tenure in his department of specialty, and so began teaching full time the following year.
Hirsch stepped into an impossible situation. The faculty was fractured and one group was intent on getting the President of the College replaced. Any act he undertook was seen as supporting or opposing the President as opposed to problem solving on its own merits.
Rumors over the exact nature of his resignation swirled for a while, compounded by the President's decision to announce her retirement soon after word of Hirsch's resignation had hit. No public statements on his resignation were made nor did President Dye offer a full account of why she was resigning.
