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Anika Leithner
International Relations, European Politics, Rhetoric, Foreign Policy Decision-Making, Political Psychology

Contact Information
Office: Building 47, Room 11E
Phone: 805-756-2760
E-mail: aleithne@calpoly.edu

I joined the faculty of the political science department in August 2006. Originally, I am from Bamberg, Germany. As an undergraduate, I studied political science, linguistics, literature, and history as part of an interdisciplinary major at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. It was probably during that time that I developed my preference for a cross-disciplinary approach to my chosen field of international relations. I also managed to combine my love for politics with my love for rhetoric. As a result, my research has thus far focused on the role language plays in politics, particularly in foreign policy decision-making.

In 2000, I decided to "jump across the big pond," as Germans like to call it, in order to attend graduate school at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I was fortunate to find an incredibly inspiring advisor (Francis A. Beer) who enabled me to combine my various research interests into a challenging but satisfying research agenda that focuses on the interaction of cognition, rhetoric, and political action in foreign policy. I received my PhD from CU Boulder in May of 2006 after finishing my dissertation entitled "Rhetoric of Responsibility: German War Rhetoric in the 21st Century."

At Cal Poly, my teaching responsibilities and interests lie mainly within the fields of international relations and comparative politics. I have taught Introduction to International Relations, Politics of the European Union, and an experimental course entitled Religion and Politics in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which I developed and co-taught with a colleague from Religious Studies. I am also scheduled to teach International Relations Theory and Political Inquiry. If research is what motivates me professionally, it is teaching that motivates me to get out of bed in the morning! The daily interaction with students in and out of the classroom has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my life and I hope this continues in the same manner for many years.

One of my favorite non-academic interests is running. I have managed to run a few half-marathons and marathons (although I was unable to walk for several days after), and even though I have less time than I used to, I still try to get in a few runs a week, preferably along the beach. I also enjoy writing historical fiction, although I have absolutely no claims to greatness in that regard. It relaxes me, that's all. I am a huge football (aka "soccer") fan, which pretty much, as a German, goes without saying. I daydream about Germany's team winning the World Cup again daily. Other than that, I probably qualify as the biggest Lord of the Rings geek on the planet. Evidence for that includes the fact that my engagement ring is THE one ring and the fact that I have actually taught a lecture entitled "International Relations Theory and the Lord of the Rings."