Evolution is a crucial word in Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Berry's lexicon. He frequently describes Tufts students, faculty and political science as constantly evolving entities. Having worked at Tufts for almost 40 years, he has seen the development of the university and the department as they have similarly evolved through the decades.
Berry started working on the Hill in 1974 after finishing his PhD at Johns Hopkins University. In his first years, he taught a course called Political Parties," as well as a seminar on interest groups, both of which eventually fell by the wayside. He has, however, continued to teach "PS 101: Presidency and the Executive Branch" as well as "PS 102: Congress, Bureaucracy, and Public Policy" since beginning.
Over time, Berry inherited his urban politics class, "Politics in the City," from a retired professor and also created his course "Nonprofits and Civil Society" after researching and writing a book on the subject. Recently, he has focused on analyzing media and politics, which led to his "New Media, New Politics" course.
Berry has seen a dramatic transformation of the political science department over his years at Tufts.
"When I came they were just starting to have rumblings about creating an international relations program. It's now one of the biggest majors on campus, and a major draw. It has helped to define Tufts' niche in the undergraduate college marketplace as a place to study things international," Berry told the Daily.
Berry said the political science department has evolved as the stature of the school and pull for educatio of political and international issues have increased.
He has found that faculty members are far more prominent and published than they used to be.
"When I arrived here, probably half of the faculty were not actively publishing, and today across the 20 or so colleagues, they're all active and doing terrific work. It's hard to imagine [the department] doing better," Berry said.
While the advancement of the faculty itself may not be a particular draw for high school students interested in political science, the growing reputation of the school and faculty members has certainly indicated to 17- and 18-year-olds that Tufts is a powerhouse in political science and international relations, particularly due to the celebrated faculty and association with the Fletcher School.
Berry, who served as the department's chair for three years, has also witnessed a dramatic increase in the caliber of political science students.
"The change is evolutionary," he said. "Students were strong when I got here, but over time I've seen a significant improvement."
Even discounting SAT scores, he says, students today are "very serious. I assign a lot of work in my classes, and they do it. They come to class engaged and they're articulate and impassioned when talking about politics, and yet I think they're fair-minded and open to hearing the views of others," he said.
Still, he also sees a strong link between his past and current students.
"If I think about my students in the '70s, they don't seem radically different than the students today, so there is a continuity," Berry said. "Students today are better, but they're not a different animal
