Professor Gerry Sussman bridges international studies and global studies with research on politics, political economy, urban politics, and communications through a teaching career of having also taught in political science, Southeast Asia studies, urban studies, and communication studies. He encourages an interchange of ideas and critical awareness among these intersecting fields. His research interests include democracy studies, urban technological history and culture, labor conditions in the digital era, media and information systems, international politics, public policy, and theories of development.
In 2011, Dr. Sussman published his sixth book, an edited volume titled The Propaganda Society: Promotional Culture and Politics in Global Context. He also authored the books Branding Democracy: U.S. Regime Change in Post-Soviet Eastern Europe (2010), Global Electioneering: Campaign Consulting, Communications, and Corporate Financing (2005), and Communication, Technology and Politics in the Information Age (1997). Dr. Sussman edited and contributed to Global Productions: Labor in the Making of the "Information Society" (1998) and Transnational Communications: Wiring the Third World (1991). He is currently working on a new book manuscript, a comparative study of British and American electoral politics. Prior to joining PSU faculty in 1994, Dr. Sussman taught for seven years in social sciences at Emerson College and previously taught for three years in the Department of Political Science, the School of Telecommunications, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Ohio University.
Some nine years spent in Southeast Asia, primarily the Philippines, taught Dr. Sussman about the critical issues of economic development and underdevelopment and how the modern histories of the Third World were shaped by the political economic forces and infrastructures of colonialism, imperialism, and neoliberalism. He continues to explore these concerns on a global basis, mainly through the lens of communications systems, ideological representations, international politics, and urban political economy.
Dr. Sussman encourages international understanding in the classroom experience through rigorous academic study and research, interactive discussion, and engaged forms of learning. He challenges students to question assumptions, recognize the influence of ideology, media and other external forces and institutions to broaden their worldview, critical understanding, and sense of citizenship. He also mentors students who wish to use their education, talents, and passions to serve local and international communities.
Collaborating with other faculty, Dr. Sussman strives to make PSU more representative of the national demographics and ethnic and racial mix by actively recruiting and encouraging a more diverse faculty and student body. His focus in International and Global Studies has been in the areas of imperial history, cultural hegemony, media and propaganda, and the political economy of international development.
Highlights of his career, aside from publishing and editing books, include working as a newspaper journalist, consulting for the United Nations. keynote speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Journalists Association conference, contributing a policy analysis for the Philippine Constitutional Convention, earning the status of full professor at PSU, and delivering the 20th anniversary memorial lecture at Simon Fraser University in honor of Professor Dallas Smythe, a pioneer in the political economy of communication field. He considers research, writing, and publishing crucial elements in fostering a healthy classroom environment.
RESEARCH AREAS: Media and information infrastructures; globalization; political economy of urban development; political economic theory; electoral systems and democratization; Third World development; labor, technology, and public policy.
What Professor Sussman has to say...
BEST PARTS OF JOB: Both teaching and the research. Keeping active in research improves the quality of classroom discussions, and an interactive class in turn stimulates the quest for answers to difficult questions, encouraging curiosity and further research.
UNIQUENESS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL STUDIES (DIGS): Students come to the Department with diverse backgrounds and interests, regional and topical. DIGS offers students a broad understanding of global issues and training in critical thinking for intelligent and socially, culturally, and politically awareness in problem-solving. The faculty teach progressive values about what constitutes healthy, locally-determined, and socially just living environments. My experience tells me that our students are active learners who seek answers to challenging questions on their own without waiting to merely absorb ideas from their instructors. I also appreciate my colleagues for valuing the principle of interdisciplinary education, their concerns for equity and social justice, and for their commitments to the profession.
ON TEACHING IN PORTLAND: It’s great to work in a city that has a high level of civic engagement, that takes politics and citizenship seriously, and where the issues of quality of life in the City are integrated into the culture of the University and its curriculum.
VISION FOR DIGS: To further develop the curriculum and internationalist perspectives toward the creation of a graduate program that trains students to become critically-trained professionals in the field of international development.
HOW I FIT INTO THAT VISION: I believe my main contributions in teaching and research fall under the categories of internationalist education, political economic education, and media and communications literacy. All of these fields of understanding, I think, are important parts of a well-educated citizen in a globalizing, communication technology-centered and politically contested world in which our Department’s graduates will be working.
OVERARCHING INTERESTS IN THE FIELD: To prepare students for the roles of citizens, activists, scholars, and leaders in the service of the public good, strong communities, global awareness, and peaceful cooperation.
FAVORITE URBAN PLACES: Portland, for its vibrant communities and social interactions; Berlin, for its stimulating political and cultural institutions; London for its museums, and New York City, for its energy, diversity, and global city status.
IMAGINATION OF HEAVEN: Cities designed for citizenship, cultural and social public interaction; environmental quality; and satisfying work conditions and a world based on shared well-being and an identity with nature.
WHEN NOT TEACHING I...: Read, go to plays, films, and concerts, write, travel, take long walks, exercise.