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Dr. Seth Greenfest

    

 

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science beginning fall 2012.

CSB Office: Main 410A
320-363-5021

sgreenfest@csbsju.edu

Fall 2013 Courses:

  • FYS - First Year Seminar
  • POLS 111, Intro to U.S. Politics
  • POLS 320D, Topics in Law: Sex, Drugs, Guns, and Money.  NEW COURSE!

                 Voters in Washington and Colorado legalize marijuana.  Minnesota votes down a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.  There is a scramble to enact new gun laws in the wake of mass shootings.  And money permeates politics.  The common theme is *law*.  Law is everywhere, solving some problems while creating others.  Law is always present and always changing.

                This is an interdisciplinary course on the roles that law plays in structuring our daily lives.  The course includes readings from Law, Sociology, Political Science, and even some readings on legal systems in other countries.  We'll define the law in its many forms; discuss how law mediates relationships between people; discuss how law creates distinctions between people; and cover the myth of rights and the politics of rights, or how we potentially can or cannot use the law to advance social justice goals.  If you are interested in the law generally -- maybe you're thinking about law school -- this course will provide an important foundation for how you think about and understand the law.

Short Bio:

Seth W. Greenfest (Ph.D., University of Washington) recently moved to Minnesota from Seattle Washington where he completed his graduate work in political science.  Focusing on the study of the U.S. federal judiciary, Dr. Greenfest examines how federal courts set their agendas and examines access to the federal courts.  Prior to graduate school, Dr. Greenfest served as a Legislative Aide in the Ohio State Senate through a program for college graduates, affiliated with the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (for information on this program, see www.lsc.state.oh.us/employment).  Dr. Greenfest lives in St. Cloud with his partner, Mike, and their Golden Retriever, Bella.

Why are you a political scientist?

I view politics as a way in which we work to peacefully settle our problems.  We don't always agree but we use government institutions to channel our passions and interests.  In my studies, I focus on the federal judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court, as one avenue through which people try to solve problems they have with each other and government.

 Publications/Papers/Books:

Greenfest, Seth W. "Jurisdiction-granting: Separation-of-powers and Ideological Distance," under review at Justice System Journal.

 

2011

Stuart Scheingold Award for Best Paper in Public Law for "Jurisdiction-Granting: Legislative Capacity and Ideological Distance" University of Washington

 

CONFERENCE PAPERS:

March 2012

"The Dynamics of Standing: How Congress and the Supreme Court Determine Access to the Federal Courts." Presented at the Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon.

 This paper can be accessed here. 

CV attached here.