Jonathan Rose speaks with students following their Classroom of the Future presentations. In addition to his work as a political studies professor, Dr. Rose chairs the teaching space building committee.

Jonathan Rose (Political Studies) was fortunate to grow up in a house that valued learning.

"My mother, a teacher with a love of words and language, would use moments in regular conversation as teaching moments,” he says. “If there was a news story about some country, and I asked about it, we immediately went to the atlas to find out about it. She encouraged our natural curiosity. The idea that learning can be serendipitous got me excited about teaching."

Dr. Rose's love of all things political was apparent at the age of 10, when he volunteered on his first political campaign. During his studies, he was further inspired by University of Toronto political scientist S.J. Coleman, a seasoned professor who still had the passion and enthusiasm of someone right out of graduate school.

Dr. Rose completed an MA and PhD in political studies at Queen’s and soon after began teaching on campus. His research focuses on Canadian politics and public policy but he is specifically interested in the role of the mass media in democracies and the uses of state communication.

Just as his mother did for him, Dr. Rose tries to foster his students' natural curiosity. He uses current news stories to start discussions. When Omar Khadr was in the news, Dr. Rose booked an auditorium for a seminar/discussion about the issue, linking it to the concepts of power and authority his students were studying at the time. He expected only a handful of students, but more than 150 showed up for the lively discussion.

Dr. Rose is now an educator-in-residence at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen's, and is chair of a teaching space building committee that is looking at designing ideal learning spaces on campus. In his spare time, he straps on his running shoes and trains for marathons.

"It is a privilege to work at a great university with amazing students who energize me. There is still no greater thrill than to be walking around the city and have a student come up and say they were in my class five years ago and that it got them interested in the politics they are now studying at the graduate level. You realize you really do have a modest impact on a student's intellectual journey."

Read a longer version of Jonathan Rose’s profile