Patrick Thaddeus Jackson (students and colleagues generally call him PTJ) is Professor of International Studies in SIS and Director of the Olson Scholars Program, and was Associate Dean from 2012-2018. He was actually born in California, but lived all over the U.S. while growing up, and decided to be “from New York City” after getting his Ph.D. at Columbia University and marrying a woman from Long Island…and then moving to the D.C. area in 2000. He did not discover international studies until college but was initially thinking about philosophy, physics, and history until he realized that one could look at all of those things and more besides in international studies. He is also a baseball nut and a sci-fi geek, although he steadfastly maintains that Star Wars is not science fiction and would be happy to debate the point with anyone at any time. (Note that his office is also largely decorated in Star Wars paraphernalia; make of that what you will.) No one in his immediate family has ever been an academic, and none of them are in government or the NGO world, so everything he knows about those lines of work has been stuff he found out though trial and error, mostly error, over the years. As the parent of an autistic child, he also now knows more than he ever thought he would about mental health issues.

Ask Me About…

• Academia
• Autism; mental health
• Various research topics including the intersection of popular culture and politics
• The tensions between (social) science and practical politics, both philosophically and in practice

In addition to my current role at SIS, I also know about some other aspects of the AU Community, including…

• Kay Spiritual Life Center
• Counseling Center

Outside of AU, I spend my time…

• In church (my wife is a Pastor in the United Church of Christ)
• Reading sci-fi and fantasy
• Homebrewing
• Biking; camping; hiking
• Playing “Dad taxi” for two kids too young to drive themselves yet
• Engaged in backstage theatre work
• Singing with The Alexandria Singers
• Listening to progressive rock (current favorite bands are Marillion, Big Big Train, and Transatlantic).

I am a member of the following groups/associations…

• The Alexandria Singers
• Museum of Science Fiction advisory group
• International Studies Association
• European Consortium for Political Research academic advisory board for summer and winter methodology schools
• Damascus Theatre Company
• American Homebrewer’s Association.

I have lived or traveled…. (keeping it just to places I have been abroad for longer than a week):

• Germany (Munich, Cologne)
• Japan (Kyoto)
• Brazil (São Paulo)
• Kenya (Nairobi)
• U.K. (England: London, Cambridge; Wales: Aberystwyth; Scotland: Edinburgh)
• Norway (Oslo)