Dr. Chad Kinsella, assistant professor of political science at Lander University, caught the "politics bug" while he was a student at Georgetown College, but as deeply as he has become involved in the history and workings of government and politics over the years, he harbors no ambitions for public office. Teaching and research into the broad spectrum of political geography are his main academic interests.
Kinsella received two awards this spring attesting to his teaching skills and connection with students. He was named recipient of the 2014 Young Faculty Teaching Award for demonstrating the qualities associated with effective teaching, and the Faculty Advisor of the Year Award.
He joined the Department of Political and Social Sciences in Lander's College of Business and Public Affairs in the fall of 2011 after obtaining his doctorate in political science from the University of Cincinnati. His first teaching experience was at Northern Kentucky University, where he received a master's in geography. He said, "I had so much fun doing it. It was like a runner's high, very exhilarating."
Kinsella has firsthand experience with runner's high. When he is not teaching, conducting research, or engaged in family activities, he runs three miles, three times a week.
Among the several courses he teaches at Lander are American national government and courses on political philosophy, political parties and interest groups, presidential campaigns, and state and local governments. He also specializes in political geography and the spatial dynamics of voting patterns at the precinct level.
He was born and grew up in Fort Mitchell, Ky., a suburb of Cincinnati, and is the first in his family to choose a career in teaching. He has political campaign experience and, for 18 months, he worked in the office of former Congressman Geoff Davis, of Kentucky.
Kinsella said his interests in history and teaching result from good mentorship, beginning in high school and continuing through college and during his time at Lander.
He said he is honored to have received the Lander teaching award and added, "It is a reflection, not only on me, but on Lander's other political science faculty."
In addition to teaching, Kinsella is the coordinator of Lander's Washington Intern Student Housing program, which arranges internships for academically qualified students and provides housing for them on Capitol Hill.
Kinsella, 36, is married. He and his wife, Erin, a special education teacher, have two children with a third on the way in mid-June.