Steve Shaw, PHD, MLS, joined the Graduate School of Leadership and Change (GSLC) as our full-time faculty Research Librarian Faculty on January 1, 2018. We are so happy to welcome Steve and wanted to take this opportunity to talk with him a bit about his excitement and plans. GSLC Provost, Dr. Laurien Alexandre, shared questions about his new journey with GSLC. Enjoy!
LA: You have worked with the PhD Program for the past two years in a part-time capacity. What excites you professionally and personally about joining us now full-time?
SS: What excites me is to be able to do what I had been doing on a limited basis for these past two years but now in a more focused and intentional manner. Antioch is where I feel at home, in terms of academics, pedagogy and culture. It is a rare institution of higher education that values relationships between faculty and students as foundational to a transformative education. The structure of the PhD in Leadership and Change program (PhDLC), the collegiality of students, staff and faculty, and the deep embeddedness of the library into the program all embody and live out these values.
LA: What opportunities do you see ahead for yourself? For the program? For the Graduate School?
SS: As with Antioch University as a whole, the PhDLC is continually open to innovation and new ways of presenting curricula. New programs—such as the GSLC’s exploration of a new Master’s in Leadership Practice—are one opportunity for growth, as is the possibility to explore the future of the dissertation format itself. I also think that as Antioch continues to move in the direction of being a nationally networked university, there will be many exciting opportunities for deeper collaboration across the institution.
LA: You’ve worked with many of our students over these past years? What do you find most joyful? What has surprised you?
SS: Our PhDLC students come to us with rich practitioner backgrounds and deep intellectual journeys, and the program provides an opportunity for me – as the research librarian—to get to know them as individuals. The fact is that even while there is such a diversity of fields, disciplines, and interests, there is at the same time a continuity of the Antiochian DNA that manifests in each student. This is less surprising to me than it is a confirmation of the purpose of the larger institution.
LA: If we were doing this interview in say, 5 years, what would you like to say you have accomplished?
SS: I would hope that we continue the work already in place, with library support embedded into the curriculum, producing scholars and leaders in their fields. I would envision that we would have been able to expand our offerings, our cohorts and alumni base as well as being on the leading edge of providing high-touch rigorous education to a global learning community.
If you’d like to reach out to Steve, he can be found at [email protected]
