Dr. David Rausch is the Teel Bivins professor of political science for the Terry B. Rodgers College of Education & Social Sciences at West Texas A&M University.
Rausch has spent some time working with and around political candidates running for different government offices, and he utilizes that experience to pour into WT and its students.
“I grew up in Pennsylvania,” Rausch said. “My dad’s a retired high school teacher. And when I was getting ready to go to college, you think about, ‘Well what am I going to major in?’ And since my dad was [a] history [teacher], I thought history might be too much in one family. I didn’t really know what political science was, but I like doing political stuff. So I picked political science and thought ‘I’m going to be different.’”
Rausch originally planned to become a lawyer but changed course.
“I went to the University of Alaska to do my undergraduate,” Rausch said. “After that, it’s like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ You have some choices. I could get certified and teach social studies, or I could go to law school. And so I took the LSAT, and I didn’t really take it seriously. So I ended up going to graduate school.”
Growing up around a parent who was an educator, Rausch had been exposed to the idea of being a teacher from a young age.
“Teaching is kind of in my family; my father is a retired high school teacher,” Rausch said. “I had a couple opportunities to be a political consultant and help people with their political campaigns. But I looked a little more broadly and realized, ‘Well I could do both.’ If you’re a professor you can take some time off and do some consulting, and I have.”
Rausch ending up at WT was actually a product of his wife getting a job at Texas Tech University.
“My wife ended up applying for a job at Texas Tech and got it,” Rausch said. “So I had to get a job in the general area, and I applied here at WT.”
Rausch teaches a variety of courses at WT.
“When I first applied, I was actually applying to be a public administration professor,” Rausch said. “That’s one of my fields, and I have taught it in the past. But I teach mostly in the American Politics area. The class I like teaching the most is Texas Government, even though I’m not even from Texas. I just like talking about local government. Also [teaching] social statistics, and a Congress class.”
Rausch describes his teaching style as primarily project-based.
“I’m not a big fan of standing up there and just talking,” Rausch said. “So when I do teach a face-to-face class, or even an online class I kind of expect the students to do their own learning. I mean I’ll give you the information,and you go do something with it.”
Rausch urges students to consider a political science career path.
“We need more political science majors,” Rausch said. “They’re important. And people will ask, ‘well what are you going to do with a political science degree?’ Whatever you want to.”
