Award winner balances projects inside and outside the classroom
October 19, 2009
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Michael Budde, professor of political science, understands the fluctuating nature of his discipline, but he believes students can find their place along the continuum and contribute their voices to the ongoing conversations and debates.
His leadership and work in researching the intersections of political economy and Christianity have earned him this year’s Cortelyou Lowery Award, which is given to outstanding faculty members who have demonstrated a career of excellence in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LA&S) and the university.
“Mike has a well-established reputation in his field and is recognized widely by scholars,” says Chuck Suchar, dean of LA&S. “In addition to his scholarship, Mike has served the university as an academic unit leader and chair of the Department of Political Science. He’s an outstanding and highly engaging teacher—one who is very passionate about the subject matter that he teaches. His service to his department and his college has been well-recognized for quite some time.”
Budde says his first reaction to the award was “that there must have been some sort of mistake; there are many people in LA&S whose contributions have been much more significant. It's a considerable honor with an impressive list of prior recipients, so it's a privilege to have been selected.”
Budde’s main scholarly focus is on the branch of theology known as ecclesiology, which focuses on the character and mission of the church. He teaches courses on Christian political thought, Catholicism and world politics, and political economy and religious culture.
He is among the founding faculty of the Catholic studies program and has served as the director of the LA&S Religion and Society Lecture Series for the past several years. “I'm a founding member of The Ekklesia Project, a nonprofit, ecumenical gathering of scholars, pastors and lay leaders committed to exploring more robust notions of Christian discipleship in various contemporary contexts,” Budde explains. “The Ekklesia Project supports a variety of publishing, educational and pastoral initiatives, and seems to provide a useful service to people from a variety of church backgrounds and traditions.”
Budde is completing a book manuscript with the working title “The Borders of Baptism,” which explores the transnational nature of contemporary Christianity and what that might or should mean for matters of Christian engagement in a range of political and social questions.
“I appreciate the degree to which DePaul has allowed me to follow my interests, even as those have shifted over time. I've always felt encouraged to learn new things here, even if they don't always fit in the conventional categories of the academic disciplines,” he says. “I've also been blessed by being in a department filled with talented and supportive colleagues, from whom I've learned a great deal over the years.”