Jeffrey L. Bernstein, PhD is a Professor of Political Science, and Affiliated Faculty in Jewish Studies, at Eastern Michigan University. His work focuses on citizenship education, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and campaigns and elections. He is currently exploring the process by which presidential candidates are nominated in the U.S., with a particular focus on whose voices are heard, and not heard, in the process. He is married with two sons, one of whom starts college this fall, making his work on citizenship education in higher education feel even more relevant and urgent than it previously did. The illness and eventual death of his mother, Eileen Lerner Zirin, has instilled in him a profound respect for the work of the healing and rehabilitation community. He remains in awe of how good medical care does not just rehabilitate the body, but also the soul, and will always be grateful to some highly-skilled individuals who internalize this lesson in the care of their patients.
Professors Jeffrey Bernstein, Michael Smith, and Rebecca Nowacek make the case that being a good citizen requires understanding the lives other people experience–their joy and suffering–and working to ease the troubles others face.