James R. Hurtgen
Founding Director, School of Business
Professor
Department of Political Science
State University College
Fredonia, New York 14063
Personal Data
Address:
Telephone:
307 Chestnut Street
Fredonia, New York 14063
716-673-4813 (office) 716-673-9571 (home)
Education
Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo (1974)
Major Field:
Political Theory
Minor Fields: International Politics and Comparative Politics
Dissertation:
An Examination of Herman Melville's Political Thought: Billy Budd, Sailor
(An Inside Narrative)
M.A., State University of New York at Buffalo (1970)
B.S.F.S., Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service (1968)
Teaching Experience
9/00 -
Professor, State University College
8/78 - 8/00
Associate Professor, State University College
9/78 - 9/80
Director/Professor in Residence,
Albany Semester Intern Program
SUNY Central Administration, Albany, New York
9/74 - 8/77
Assistant Professor, State University College
9/71 - 9/74
Instructor, State University College
9/70 - 9/71
Graduate Instructor, State University of New York at Buffalo
9/68 - 9/70
Graduate Teaching Assistant, State University of New York at Buffalo
Areas of Teaching Specialization
Political Theory
American Political Thought
Democratic Theory
Legal Studies
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Courses Taught
PS 100 Political Science Orientation
PS 101 Reagan's America
PS 115 Man and Politics
PS 120 American Politics
PS 150 Introduction of International Politics
PS 265 Contemporary Ideologies
PS 276 Law and Society
PS 277 Introduction to Law
PS 360 Classical Political Theory
PS 361 Modern Political Theory: Machiavelli to Marx
PS 365 American Political Thought
PS 369 Seminar in Democratic Theory
PS 369 Reform in Twentieth Century America
PS 369 Censorship in Liberal Society
PS 345 Politics and Literature
PS 394 Politics and Drama
Dean's Honors Seminar (Spring 1975, 1976, 1977)
HN 205 Honors Seminar: Architecture and Society (Fall 2002)
HN 152 Honors Seminar (Spring 1987)
HN 260 Honors Seminar (Spring 1996)
Research Interests
American Political Thought (development of liberal thought)
Political Philosophy of Hobbes
Political Thought of Herman Melville
Politics and Morality
Administrative Experience - SUNY System Administration
7/78 - 9/80
Special Assistant to Vice Chancellor for Alternative and Continuing Education and
Founder/director of Albany Semester Intern Program
Administrative Experience - College at Fredonia
9/02 -
Founding Director, School of Business
9/00 - 8/01
Interim Chairperson, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
7/98 – 9/02
Director of Legal Studies Major/Minor
7/90 - 9/96
Dean for Liberal Studies
6/93 - 7/94
Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
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6/83 - 6/90
Chairman, Department of Political Science
9/80 - 9/81
Acting Chairman, Department of Political Science
9/77 - 8/78
Associate Director of Cooperative Education
College and Community Service (only most recent activities listed)
9/03 -
Co-Chair, Division of Academic Affairs Strategic Planning Committee
10/02 -
Member, Chautauqua County Workforce Investment Board
9/01 – 8/02
Chairperson, School of Business Committee
9/99 -
Faculty Advisor/Coach, Fredonia Mock Trial Team
4/97 - 9/99
Organizer of annual Law Day for area Western New York high school students
5/98 – 4/99
Chairperson of Middle States Task Group on Student Intellectual Development
10/87 - 6/99
Member, Holocaust Commemoration Committee of Chautauqua County
7/90 - 9/91
Member, Graduate Council
9/81 – 9/97
Member and rotating chairperson, Academic Bankruptcy Committee
9/93 - 10/97
Member, Computer Planning and Priorities Advisory Board
7/90 - 9/96
Chairperson, General College Program Subcommittee
9/91 - 9/95
Member, Assessment Subcommittee
6/90 - 9/96
Member and chairperson, Scholastic Standings Committee
7/88 - 1/90
Chairperson, Professional Development Committee for Middle States Review
9/76 - 9/83
Campus Coordinator, Albany Semester Program Campus Coordinator, Washington
Semester Program
5/85 - 8/85
Elected member, Presidential Search Committee
1/85 - 1/86
Chairperson, Faculty-Staff Scholarship Committee
8/83 – 7/90
Member, College Scholarship Committee
1/82 - 8/84
Member, General College Program Subcommittee
9/80 - 9/85
Member, Professional Development Committee
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Fund Raising
Chairperson, All College Fund Drive, 2001-02
Negotiated the establishment of the J. Murdoch Dawley Fund to honor the Outstanding Graduating
Senior in Political Science.
Lawyer Alumni Scholarship Fund
Founding member of College Faculty-Staff Scholarship Committee.
Other Professional Activities
Manuscript Reviewer, American Political Science Review, Western Political Science Quarterly
Past Board Member, Chautauqua County Dispute Resolution Advisory Board
Grant Reviewer, SUNY Chancellor's Award for Improvement of Undergraduate Instruction
Grant Reviewer, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship Program
Professional Honors
SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, May, 1976
Six times chosen to give Honors seminars to outstanding undergraduates.
Selection as charter faculty member of Phi Eta Sigma Honors Fraternity, 1976
Recipient of Fredonia's Educational Development Program Distinguished Service Award, 1995
Grants
Summer, 1999, Professional Development and Quality of Working Life (PDQWL) Grant
Summer, 1986, 87, 88 SUNY travel grant for study at Library of Congress
Summer, 1982, National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Seminar for College Teachers,
University of Virginia. Seminar: "Rise of the Centralized Society," given by Professor William
Harbaugh (Department of History).
Duke
Summer, 1976, National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Seminar for College Teachers,
University. Seminar: "Politics and Morality," given by Professor John H. Hallowell.
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Spring, 1977, Study Grant under U.S. Office of Education for Program Development in Cooperative
Education.
Publications and Papers (Political Science)
James R. Hurtgen, "Melville's Billy Budd and the Context of Political Rule," Benjamin Barber and
Michael J. McGarth, eds., The Artist and Political Vision (Transaction Books, Spring, 1982), pp.
245-265. Revised and reprinted in Robert Milder, ed., Critical Essays on Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor
(G.K. Hall & Co., 1989).
__________, "The Case for Presidential Prerogative," University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 7,
Fall, 1975, pp. 59-85.
__________, "Hobbes's Theory of Sovereignty in Leviathan," Reasons papers, No. 5, February,
1979, pp. 53-65.
__________, "Liberalism and Obscenity," written during Summer Seminar at Duke University,
45 pages, unpublished manuscript.
__________, "Democracy and Philosophy," Reason Papers, No. 5, February, 1977, pp. 77-88.
Panel Papers
James R. Hurtgen, "The Nature of Liberal Reform in Twentieth-Century America," Annual
Convention of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., August 31, 1984.
__________, "Politics and the Dramatic Mode," Annual Convention of the New York State Political
Science Association, Albany, New York, March, 1976.
__________, “Liberalism and Obscenity,” prepared for the NEH Summer Seminar “Politics and
Morality,” Duke University, 1976.
__________, "Hobbes's Theory of Sovereignty in Leviathan," Annual Convention of the Northeast
Political Science Association, Saratoga Springs, New York, November,1974.
__________, "Observations on the Relationship Between Technology and Politics," Annual
Convention of the New York State Political Science Association, Syracuse, New York, March, 1974.
Publications and Papers (Higher Education)
James R. Hurtgen, Middle States Task Group III Report on Intellectual Growth and Development of
Fredonia Undergraduates, April, 1999.
__________, “Assessment of General Learning: State University of New York College at Fredonia,”
in Peter J. Gray and Trudy W. Banta, eds., The Campus-Level Impact of Assessment: Progress,
Problems and Possibilities (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997).
__________, “The GCP and Student Learning: Second Report to the Faculty,” Fall 1995. A version
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of this report was presented to the Assessment Forum, Washington, D.C., June 12, 1997.
__________, "Internships and Public Service Education," SUNY Conversations in the Disciplines,
Empire State College, Albany, New York, October, 1982.
__________, "Public Service Internships and the Liberal Arts," in Steven E. Brooks, ed., Field
Experience Education in the Liberal Arts (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., Fall, 1979), pp. 35-43.
__________, "Designing Internships for the Liberal Arts," Annual Convention of the National Society
for Internships and Field Experience Education, San Antonio, Texas, October, 1979.
Books
James R. Hurtgen, The Divided Mind of American Liberalism (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers,
Lexington Books, 2002)
Panel Chairperson/Discussant
Invited panelist for three day colloquium on Melville’s civil war poetry, May, 2001, Chicago, Illinois.
Invited panelist for three day colloquium “Melville’s Tragic Vision of the Price of Liberty: BattlePieces and Aspects of the Civil War”, May 7-10, 1998, Charleston, South Carolina.
Invited panelist; "Symposium on Virtue and Political Liberty," panelists participated at all sessions
during the four day symposium, April 24-27, 1980.
Panel on "Biopolitics and International Studies," Annual Convention of the International Studies
Association, Toronto, Canada, March, 1979.
Chairperson, Panel on "American Liberalism in Historical Perspective," Annual Meeting of the
Northeast Political Science Association, November 14, 1986, Boston, Massachusetts.
Panelist, Academic Convocation Panel (Convocation Speaker: Prof. Robert Nozick); SUNY Fredonia,
September, 1988.
Book Reviews
Numerous reviews in Perspective on works in political, social and moral theory.
Other
Faculty presenter, Bowling Alone in Fredonia, 2004 Faculty Expo sponsored by Dean for Natural and
Social Sciences and Professional Studies, with Richard Jankowski and David Rankin, February 11,
2004.
Host and Executive Producer, Fredonia Face to Face, bi-weekly television series produced by WTVF
and the College at Fredonia, focus on national and local issues.
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Television appearances as commentator, panelist and guest on several occasions.
Radio commentary for WEBR-FM, Buffalo, NY on 1992 and 1996 presidential election
Radio commentary (occasionally) for WGR-AM, Buffalo, NY
Lecture before the English and Philosophy faculty of Canisius College, Buffalo, New York on the
works of Herman Melville, April 1, 1976.
Debate with Professor Tibor Machan on "Censorship and the Open Society," later published in World
Research Ink, Fall, 1977.
Numerous lectures before professional groups and student organizations at the State University
College.
Presenter at workshop on Literacy Across the Curriculum: Learning by Writing, given by SUNY
Fredonia at SUNY Oneonta, September 25-27, 1986.
Professional Memberships
American Political Science Association
Foundations of Political Theory
revised: 12/03
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