Category: Arts & Life

By Ally Kebba

Contributing Writer

Dr. Christopher Ellis is the epitome of a true Bucknellian, having graduated with the class of 2000 and returning to work as an assistant professor in the political science department. He was first encouraged to attend the University by his uncle, who was on the Board of Trustees. After visiting the campus with a particularly enthusiastic tour guide, Ellis was hooked.

“For a school of its size, there is so much going on here in terms of academic programming, cultural events, even programs designed to get students and faculty to work together. In addition to teaching, faculty here are also doing cutting-edge research, which makes this a very intellectually stimulating place to work. As a huge sports fan, I think that having Division I athletics is a really nice thing, too,” he said.

Ellis entered his first year unsure of what he wanted to study and laughingly recalls being a short-lived chemistry major. Ellis took a liking to both economics and political science, and eventually decided to double major. He said he “never took a bad class at Bucknell,” and appreciates the holistic education the University provided him.

Ellis was involved on campus in several ways, serving as editor-in-chief of The Bucknellian and as a member of the fraternity Kappa Sigma. He even met his wife, Carrie, who now works in Admissions, here during his sophomore year. They both lived in Smith Hall and were introduced by a mutual friend. Despite his account that she may not have been quite so taken with him the first time they met, he eventually charmed her and the two were married in Rooke Chapel. Ellis playfully labeled his family as “the kind they warn you about at Orientation,” because his brother also attended and met his wife at the University.

Though he had always thought teaching seemed like fun, Ellis had not necessarily planned to be a professor. Before returning to the University, Ellis worked in retail as a men’s clothing buyer for several department stores and received his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2006. He came back to his alma mater in 2008 after working as an assistant professor of political science at North Carolina State University.

Ellis studies the relationships between public opinion and public policy. He researches why the public wants certain things and whether or not the public can obtain them. He has been published in six scholarly journals, discussing and analyzing such topics as the dominance of scope-of-government preferences in party identification, individual association with particular political ideologies in the time before modern survey research, and the relation of policy preferences in voters and non-voters to differences between public desires and realized policies. Ellis is known for his research of heterogeneity in American public opinion and issues of democratic representation in the United States.

As a student, his favorite class was a public opinion course, in which he was able to take a political survey of his fellow students. The experience led him to incorporate political surveys of his students into the politics classes he now teaches, as well as discussion of the methods and applications of survey research. Ellis particularly enjoys teaching the introductory course American Politics because he says it allows him to cover a wider arena of information than he normally studies, involves a different pace and has a focus on current events and issues that face classroom debate and discussion.

When asked what sets the University apart from those comparable in size and caliber, Ellis commented favorably on his students.

“Students at Bucknell are very engaged in their academic work and are also interested to understand the practical implications of what they are learning. This combination makes teaching courses in American politics particularly rewarding. [They] also generally have a sense of humor and know how to put things in proper perspective, which makes relating to them much easier, at least for me,” he said. Ellis’ Bison pride, passion for the study of political science, and commitment to his students makes it easy to understand why he is such an appreciated professor at the University.

By Laura Crowley

Arts & Life Editor

Although it has just five members, the University’s Dining Sustainability Ambassadors Club has made its presence visible in the five years of its existence. The group was founded in 2006 when Bostwick Marketplace’s general manager John Cummins got the idea from Cornell University to “make the caf as local, organic and sustainable as possible,” member Reilly Price ’13 said.

The efforts of the group can be seen in the cafeteria today. For instance, only organic eggs are now offered in the cafeteria, 37 percent of the food is bought locally, and there is a program with reusable to-go containers.  The cafeteria is also planning to go “trayless” to prevent unnecessary consumption of food. In the future, “we want to make all of our plasticware biodegradable and increase the amount of food bought locally,” Price said.

Members Melissa Koenigsberg ’13, Blair Allen ’11, Olivia Tomeo ’13, Price and Alex Hom ’13 act as ambassadors between students and Parkhurst Dining Services to facilitate communication between the two bodies in order to create new initiatives.

According to Price, the student members are also trying to “raise awareness about food sustainability and its importance.” Such efforts can also be seen in posters scattered around the cafeteria that detail the initiatives and goals of the group. According to Angelika Iordanou ’13, these posters are “informative and easily readable.”

The club also hosts a local food dinner once every semester that offers local ice cream, bagels, pasta and fresh fruits and vegetables. Such events “attract sizeable crowds and help encourage students to buy local products,” Price said.

To help raise further awareness about food sustainability, there is “an upcoming showing of ‘Food, Inc.’ to raise awareness about the environmental impact of food production,” Price said.

Price joined the group when she became interested in trying to decentralize food production from an introductory sociology class. She hopes that this group will raise awareness about food production “so that there will ultimately be less industrial agriculture across the country.”

The Dining Sustainability Ambassadors Club meets once a week and is open to new members who are similarly interested in the importance of food sustainability.