Professor Selected for National Security Workshop

Westminster Professor of Political Science Tobias Gibson was recently one of only 25 faculty members from across the nation selected to attend a national workshop to prepare faculty members to teach in the fields of national security and strategic studies.

This Phillip Merrill Center Teachers’ Workshop was held June 1-5 at the Basin Harbor Club on the shores of Lake Champlain in Basin Harbor, VT.

Westminster College recently added a major in security studies and Dr. Gibson is considered an expert in this field.

Participants at the conference explored the use of simulations, case studies, film as well as lecture and seminar teaching.

The group also received an in-depth experiential learning tool which they practiced at Fort Ticonderoga, learned about effective syllabus writing and took a staff ride  to a nearby battlefield.

“We were able to learn about teaching strategic studies from faculty members at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies,” says Dr. Gibson.  “A particular high note was learning about the creation of a syllabus for intelligence class from John McLaughlin, a former Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Any teaching faculty member in the field of strategic studies or military history is eligible to apply for this highly selective annual workshop. Candidates include those teaching in university or professional military programs as well as faculty from liberal arts colleges who are interested in teaching a course in the field.