An associate professor at East Carolina University is currently teaching the first-ever course at the school on the history of conservative intellectual thought in the United States.
The professor is Nancy Spalding, reports Campus Reform.
The course at the taxpayer-funded, 21,500-student school in Greenville, N.C. is modeled after a curriculum designed by the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). There are 46 students enrolled in the inaugural class on conservatism (and 27 of them are declared political science majors).
“There is not a whole lot of conservative thought being done here on campus,” Spalding told Campus Reform. “It’s a huge undertaking to create a new class from scratch without having something to reference. A lot of students are hungry to hear the real meaning of American conservatism.”
Coursework includes readings by various conservative stalwarts. Assignments for students enrolled in the class include papers on various topics approached from — or critical of — a conservative or libertarian point of view.
“This isn’t something that is sweeping any of the academic fields,” Spalding admitted. “There are conservative academics here, but they tend to be isolated. I’m not sure if there will be a trend, but this is a tremendous resource. If my former student who knows about ISI hadn’t said I should do this, I never would have taken it seriously.”
Spalding’s webpage on the East Carolina website notes that she holds a Ph.D. in political science. She specializes in several fields including African political systems, political theory and the comparative study of genocide. She is also the faculty adviser for the East Carolina University College Republicans.
Spalding fares well among student reviewers at Rate My Professors. “Exams are tough,” they say, but she is “a fantastic professor” who keeps class “interesting” and is “absolutely friendly.”
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