Political expert to lecture on quasi-democratic governments at The College of Idaho
2011. 03. 25.
The College of Idaho welcomes to campus Dr. Daniel Zirker, a professor of political science and Dean of Arts and Social Sciences from the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Zirker will give deliver the lecture “Quasi-Democratic Government in the Pacific: From 'Africanization' to 'Latin Americanization' ” at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, in the Sterry Hall third-floor boardroom.
Zirker is a specialist in Latin American policy, specifically military-government relations in Brazil. He also spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in the African nation of Tanzania. The College of Idaho is home to international students from more than a dozen African and Latin American nations, including Tanzania and Brazil.
“Dr. Zirker is a leading scholar in international development,” said C of I President Marv Henberg, who once co-authored a paper on Brazilian politics with Zirker. “His experience in the Peace Corps made him realize how the lack of enlightened political institutions impedes development, and he has been studying the subject ever since. We certainly look forward to having him come to campus and share his knowledge with our students.”
Zirker earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Montana and a doctorate from the University of Alberta in Canada. He has taught at several American universities, including Montana State University-Billings and the University of Idaho, where he was a colleague of Henberg. Zirker also has served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil and as president of the Research Committee on Armed Forces and Society of the International Political Science Association.
Founded in 1891, The College of Idaho is the state's oldest private liberal arts college. It has a century-old tradition of educating some of the most accomplished graduates in Idaho, including six Rhodes Scholars, three Marshall Scholars, and another ten Truman and Goldwater Scholars. The College is located on a beautiful campus in Caldwell, Idaho. Its distinctive PEAK curriculum challenges students to attain competencies in the four knowledge peaks of the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field, enabling them to graduate with an academic major and three minors in four years. For more information on The College of Idaho, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.