Lily Mellitz '26
Government Options Editor
This semester, Trinity Faculty welcomed a brand new Assistant Professor of Political Science: Sidra Hamidi. Initially from Pakistan, Hamid immigrated to the US on the age of seven, settling in Chicago. His political science journey was largely formed by private experiences, particularly after September. 11 assaults.
“I actually grew up within the post-9/11 world, and so that basically formed the best way I take a look at politics…, each from a private perspective and from the angle of those broader international forces,” Hamidi stated. “I used to be… pushed to know what occurred… and worldwide relations had rather a lot to do with that battle and the struggle on terror. The politics of the time… the detailed understanding of my place as a Muslim immigrant to the US within the context of… every thing that was taking place within the post-9/11 world.”
Hamidi additionally credit her professors at North Central Faculty throughout her undergraduate years for fostering her curiosity in political science. “I simply fell in love with what my professors did,” Hamidi remembers. “My professors… had been very a lot my position fashions.”
After incomes her undergraduate diploma from North Central Faculty and a Ph.D. From Northwestern College, Hamidi held instructing positions at two liberal arts schools in Florida: Stetson College and Eckerd Faculty. Earlier than arriving at Trinity, she additionally accomplished a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford College.
Since arriving at Trinity, Hamid has been impressed with the range of the school and the curiosity of the scholars. “One factor I seen straight away is how numerous the school is at Trinity,” Hamidi famous. “Trinity … appears to have really tried to diversify the school, which may be very attention-grabbing.”
A significant motivation for Hamid's choice to hitch Trinity was the chance to flee the more and more divisive political local weather in Florida. “I taught in a non-public establishment, so I wasn't there [as] affected by among the… extra authorized points of that struggle the place public establishments are literally affected by what folks can or can not study,” Hamidi defined. “However I believe [there was still a] common kind of worry of the face[ing] a form of repercussion for the belongings you study. In order that form of political scenario in Florida was not supreme.”
When discussing his strategy to instructing, Hamid emphasised the significance of political science as a self-discipline that goes past partisan debates. “Political science affords a manner of politics that's a bit of totally different than simply 'I'm a Democrat, so I believe this,' or 'I'm a Republican,'” Hamid defined. “It affords a brand new mind-set about politics and the way politics shapes a lot of what we do as folks, as a society.”
Hamidi additionally emphasised the significance of evaluating how political events are organized in numerous nations, stressing that these organizational constructions aren’t mere coincidences; they play a significant position in shaping governance and political outcomes, and understanding these variations is important to understanding how politics works in numerous contexts. “These events aren’t simply random issues”, emphasised Hamidi. “They’re really how our governing constructions work.”
As a girl of shade, Hamidi is keenly conscious of the significance of illustration in academia. “Ladies who work in security-related fields, like worldwide security-related subjects, army subjects, there’s a tendency to be in rooms which are extra dominated by white males,” Hamidi stated. “I believe there's an extended historical past in my discipline of that. However I’d say that I’ve had the privilege of being in a political context the place that’s altering. And so I really feel like I haven't… actually, actually struggled with feeling not noted.”
“I've all the time had… the privilege of mentors who’re very considerate about these points,” Hamidi continued. “I additionally had the chance [as] needs black feminine worldwide college students or different black college students[ing] to eat and discuss with me. For them, it's an invite to speak to somebody they will really feel like they’ve one thing in frequent with.”
Past the classroom, Hamid's private analysis is rooted within the intersection of worldwide regulation and nuclear coverage. Her present analysis focuses on nuclear safety, with an upcoming ebook below contract. “My ebook… appears to be like on the politics of recognition in nuclear politics… and the way states come to be acknowledged as nuclear or non-nuclear,” Hamidi defined. “The case research within the ebook are … among the most essential circumstances in modern nuclear politics: Israel, Iran, North Korea, and India.”
Hamidi is optimistic that the ebook might be completed by December, making it a long-awaited contribution to the sphere. Along with her ebook, Hamidi can be engaged on a paper that examines the anti-nuclear motion of the 1970s and 1980s and the way perceptions of nuclear energy have shifted over time.
Whereas solely a short while at Trinity, Hamid already feels a way of belonging. “I really feel like I've identified folks in my division… longer than I even have as a result of so many individuals [had us over] once we first moved in,” she mirrored. “And I've been actually happy with the general sense of … curiosity that exists amongst college students and mental curiosity concerning the world and the way it works.”
Trying forward, Hamid is eager to interact with the broader Trinity neighborhood and proceed to form the minds of scholars via his progressive instructing and analysis. “I'm instructing a global regulation class within the spring, which I'm very enthusiastic about,” Hamidi stated. “It's certainly one of my favourite lessons to show and I believe the scholars get rather a lot out of that class.”
In her closing speech, Hamidi emphasised that “It’s all the time essential to succeed in out [political science] with an openness and a willingness to find. Politics is so divisive [and] folks already provide you with their very own concepts of what’s proper and fallacious from a political viewpoint. However typically you [have] to problem your assumptions about how the world works. “It's an essential talent to have.”