Melissa Beaumont
JRN 100
Professor Tierney
December 11, 2012
Profile Story:
Professor Peter Ubertaccio
As you walk into his office, the first thing you notice is framed
pictures hung all around the walls of “Professor U”, as his students call him,
posing with politicians such as President George Bush and Laura Bush and also
of famous politicians that have visited Stonehill with college students. Aside from the pictures, he is usually at his
desk, leaned causally in his chair advising students on small things from what
major to study, to law school, and even on their ambitions to run for political
office in the future.
Professor Peter N. Ubertaccio is the director of the Martin Institute
and chair of the Political Science and International Studies Department at
Stonehill College and has been working since he’s been at Stonehill to get
college students and the surrounding community more interested and involved in
politics.
For the five years Ubertaccio has been Director at the Martin Institute,
he has been working to make the Martin Institute and its programs more open and
interesting to students.
Ubertaccio has put up artwork and a photo gallery of students at events
in the hallways of the Martin Institute and has updated the Martin Lounge by
adding new furniture and a computer. He made it available for student use,
rather than just faculty. Before students would be asked to leave if they
stayed too long in the lounge said Donna L. Benoit, an administrative assistant
for the Martin Institute.
Ubertaccio has worked to make the Martin Institute more inviting to
students and the community alike by bringing in interesting programming and
political candidates as speakers.
When the Martin Institute first put on events, the attendance was
extremely low even though they brought in distinguished speakers. Ubertaccio has worked to increase attendance
at events. One way he has done this is through the creation of two-year
thematic cycles of courses that tie in with speakers and events that are hosted
by the Martin Institute.
“It allows both students and faculty to really go deep into a specific
issues because we have four semesters worth of programming tied to a particular
theme,” said Ubertaccio.
In addition to creating these themes, Ubertaccio helped create an
interdisciplinary group of Faculty Fellows at the Martin Institute to come up
with programming and link what they are teaching in the classroom to the
evening events.
Before Ubertaccio came to Stonehill, he discovered his love for politics
while he was an undergraduate student at Catholic University in Washington,
D.C. After earning his bachelors in
politics at Catholic, he worked on a national political campaign and then went
on to earn his Ph.D. in Politics from Brandeis University.
Ubertaccio’s love of politics is seen through his work at the Martin
Institute, but what really stands out is his efforts to help students become
involved and interested in politics.
“Peter has a wonderful relationship with his students although not a
traditional one” said Benoit. He does
not teach traditional classes, but rather classes that include travel and allow
students to experience politics first hand.
For example, he taught a Learning Community, which is two courses
combined around a common theme, on indigenous peoples of Latin America. At the end of the semester, Ubertaccio and
another professor traveled with students to Guatemala for nine days where they
studied Guatemalan culture and politics.
Senior political science major, Michael B. Hershberg has known
Ubertaccio since his sophomore year when he took the class that traveled to
Guatemala. “Traveling to Guatemala was
one of my favorite experiences with ‘Professor U’ and of my time at Stonehill,”
said Hershberg.
These courses were also part of a two-year theme at the Martin Institute
on indigenous peoples that brought in speakers who presented on topics that
ranged from ancient Mayan culture to the indigenous population of the local
area.
Besides his work at Stonehill College,
Ubertaccio is also an avid blogger and commentator on politics. He has made appearances on television and has
been quoted numerous times in newspapers, most notably in New York Times.
Even though he is so involved in the world of politics outside of
Stonehill College, Ubertaccio is know for always being available to students
and for giving great advice.
Senior political science major Lindsey A. Beauregard loves that
Ubertaccio is so available and gives great advice on both academics and future
careers. She says how he has great
political connections and is always willing to use them to help students.
“He helped me decide to change my major to political science from international
studies, since I needed to study abroad for that major, but I really wanted to
go to Washington, D.C. instead. He made
it a really easy transition to switch majors when I thought it was going to be
the worst!” said Beauregard.
While Ubertaccio is a beloved professor and director of the Martin
Institute at Stonehill, many can see him moving on to bigger and better things
in the future.
Benoit sees him as having the ability to be dean or provost at the
college because of his good ideas, his ability to work well with people and to
negotiate. Meanwhile Beauregard can see
him as eventually becoming a political pundit for a major news station such as
CNN or becoming a political opinion writer for the New York Times.
Wherever Ubertaccio may end up in the future, without a doubt he has
changed the involvement of students in politics at Stonehill for the better and
has helped many students become open to new experiences and set them up for
great futures in politics.
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