Shaianne Osterreich
Shaianne Osterreich
Associate professor, economics
B.A., Central Connecticut State University; Ph.D., University of Utah
Shaianne Osterreich is a storyteller -- which maybe isn't what you have in mind when you imagine an economics professor at Ithaca.
"My teaching style is conversational yet challenging," she says. "I believe that good teaching is just a matter of good communication. I'll share my experience and knowledge with my students so they can begin to develop the skills and the inclination to engage in life -- not just watch it."
Osterreich's experience and knowledge duly impress. She won a Fulbright scholarship in 2005, and spent the following year in Indonesia studying the intersection between gender, trade, and poverty in Southeast Asia. Here on campus, her coursework focuses on globalization, international trade, gender, race, and economic power, all informed by personal stories and case studies from her travel and research.
Her motivation is simple: to nurture a sense of responsibility and promote good global citizenship. "At the end of each course, my students present policy briefs on a range of topics, including international trade and income inequality, aid packages for poor countries to fight AIDS and poverty, and economic responses to global warming."
Her next group of students will have a lot to work with. Osterreich spent the summer of 2008 in Java on a research grant, collecting data, working on her language skills, and making the contacts necessary for developing the survey she will administer on her return in 2009. She now has a Sumitro fellowship to conduct research on the relationship between trade, labor policy, and poverty relief in West Java. And when she's not working on global problems, she chairs campus committees on curriculum development and educational redesign, and is a member of the academic roundtable.
For Professor Osterreich, such dedication is fueled by the desire to empower her students. "I hope that my experiences can help teach and inspire students to face today's challenges."
Good storytelling will do that.