Prospective Students
Dr. Stroop Faculty Spotlight Q&A
Dr. Christopher Stroop is a visiting faculty member in the Honors College and enjoys teaching the courses Russia Between East and West and Acquisition of Knowledge. In his free time, he contributes original work to his blog on his website and publishes freelance writing and policy research. Check out the question-and-answer below to learn more about Dr. Stroop.
1) What is your educational/research background?
I got my Ph.D. in modern Russian history and interdisciplinary studies in the humanities
at Stanford University in 2012, writing a dissertation about Russian religious philosophers'
responses to the First World War. At the broadest level, I study modern Christian
thought as religious ideology and look at its social and political impact. Currently,
I am researching the impact of Russian Christian ideas about Russian history and Communism
on 20th-century Western Christian thought and anti-Communism. I have always been drawn
to interdisciplinary research, which is why I signed on for the Interdisciplinary
Studies in the Humanities component of my Ph.D., which required graduate level general
humanities seminars, participation in a symposium, and having an outside reader on
my dissertation committee (in my case, in addition to my adviser, Robert Crews, and
Nancy Kollmann, from Stanford's History Department, my outside reader was Grish Freidin,
a Slavic literature scholar). My history with this kind of humanities education goes
back to my undergraduate experience, where I was part of the Honors College at Ball
State University.
2) What is your favorite area of study/research?
I have difficulty picking favorites in just about anything. I suppose I take the most
pleasure and pride in finding ways to combine my academic knowledge with public outreach
and advocacy through more popular venues and forms such as journalism, commentary,
and policy research, but I also thoroughly enjoy those rare "Eureka!" moments in pure
academic research, when you come across some very striking document or you simply
suddenly arrive at an insight into the material you're researching. And then there
are the "gems" you come across in your primary sources that you value for personal
reasons, whether or not you can use them in formal publications.
3) How many years have you been working in the Honors College?
I was a Provost's Postdoctoral Scholar in the Humanities and Social Sciences during
the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years. While I was housed in the History Department
and taught an upper level 19th-century European history survey there, during those
years I also taught a Russian Studies version of the Honors College's Geographic Perspectives course called Russia Between East and West: Empire, Revolution, Ideas, Geopolitics.
4) What are all of the classes you teach in the Honors College?
As a visiting instructor in the Honors College for this current academic year, I continue
to teach Russia Between East and West in addition to Acquisition of Knowledge.
5) What is your favorite class that you teach at the Honors College?
I suppose I am partial to Russia Between East and West, but I am enjoying teaching Acquisition of Knowledge too!
6) What is one lesson you want all of your students to take away from studying your
course?
I want my students to hone their abilities to think contextually and critically and
to communicate well in the form of an argument. I also want them to think about the
ways their education intersects with everyday life and about how to apply the thinking
skills they gain with an Honors College education as conscientious national and global
citizens, how to give back.
7) What do you like about being a faculty member in the Honors College?
I like getting to work with bright students in their formative years, facilitating
their intellectual development, both pushing them outside their comfort zones and
being there to boost their confidence and provide mentorship as they learn to think
and engage in self-guided research.
8) What activities do you like to do for fun when you're not teaching in the Honors
College?
It's a little embarrassing to admit this, but I'm still playing PokemonGO (go Team
Mystic!). I also blog at ChrisStroop.com and publish freelance writing and policy research, but for fun I like to read, and
I have a few of TV series I follow, particularly Orange is the New Black and Game
of Thrones. I enjoy travel and learning about various aspects of Florida, the US,
and the world as well.