Georgetown Learning Community – Course Descriptions

Chester Gillis is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He is the initial holder of the Amaturo Chair in Catholic Studies and the founding director for the Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. At Georgetown, he served as Department Chair and Dean of Georgetown College, and as Provost at St. Louis University.

He is the author of A Question of Final Belief: John Hick’s Pluralistic Theory of Salvation (1989), Pluralism: A New Paradigm for Theology (1993), Roman Catholicism in America (1999), Catholic Faith in America (2003), and editor of The Political Papacy (2006). The second edition of his Roman Catholicism in America was published by Columbia University press in 2020. He is co-editor of the Columbia University series Religion and Politics.

He received Ph.B. and Ph. L. degrees in Philosophy and M.A. in Religious Studies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago.

Having taught at prestigious institutions such as Georgetown University from 2004 to 2020 and the University of California, Berkeley from 1982 to 2003, Professor Kirkpatrick has a distinguished career in academia. Her expertise lies in Latin American literature and culture spanning the 19th to 21st centuries.

Her extensive publications cover a variety of topics including poetry, gender studies, and visual culture. She is particularly noted for her insightful analyses of cultural texts and her contribution to understanding the interplay between literature and societal change.

In the classroom, she has taught courses on the modern novel, the Mexican Revolution, and TransAmerican studies. Her courses are known for their engaging and interdisciplinary approach, which often inspires students to pursue careers in academia and related fields.

Over the years, she has received numerous awards and recognitions for her contributions to Latin American studies. She has been a keynote speaker at various international conferences and has collaborated with scholars across the globe.

She has also served on editorial boards of academic journals, contributed to critical anthologies, and participated in various cultural projects that highlight the importance of Latin American literature in a global context.

Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to mentoring students and fostering a deep appreciation for Latin American culture and its diverse narratives.

An expert on the American Presidency, he has written twelve books, several in multiple editions, and over 100 articles, chapters, and book reviews. His major works include The Road to the White House, now in its ninth edition, Personality and Politics: Obama For and Against Himself, The Legislative Presidency, Presidential Leadership (with George C. Edwards), 8th ed., two co-authored introductory texts on American Government, The Politics of American Government, 3rd ed., and the most recent, Conflict and Consensus in American Politics published in 2006. In addition, Professor Wayne has authored or edited the following works: Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Election? 4th. ed., The Election of the Century (with Clyde Wilcox), and Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Government? ed. with contributions from graduate students, faculty and alumni of the Government Department of Georgetown University. Professor Wayne has served as President of the Presidency Research Group and the National Capital Area Political Science Association. He regularly lectures to international visitors, senior federal executives, and college students in the United States and abroad on the presidency and electoral politics. He has testified before Congress, advised both the Republican and Democratic National Committees on the presidential nomination process, and worked as a consultant on various film documentaries on the American Presidency.

Carlos A. Suárez-Quian, Ph.D., is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. His teaching expertise is in clinical gross anatomy, where he served as gross anatomy discipline director of the first- and fourth-year medical school curriculum for over 20 years. He is also a published textbook author, speaker, visiting faculty member, and consultant on clinical gross anatomy programs around the world. Dr. Suárez’ was a funded research scientist with a concentration in cell and molecular biology, during which time he published more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including for a technique he pioneered called “laser capture microdissection.” He was a founding member and co-director of the Georgetown Medical Center Mini Medical School Program for over 25 years. Dr. Suárez-Quian served as one of 15 national judges for the annual Regeneron Science Competition (formerly Intel) that awards over 1.5 million in scholarships to high school seniors, now in its 78th year.

Dr. Suárez-Quian’s teaching awards include the Golden Apple and the Geza Illes Award in Gross Anatomy, and the Kaiser-Permanente Teaching Award granted by his faculty peers. In May 2008, Dr. Suárez-Quian was inducted into the MAGIS Society of Master Teachers, the highest award Georgetown bestows on a faculty member at the Medical School. He is the author of the Online Guided Gross Anatomy Dissector (Oxford University Press, 2014), and co-author of The Clinical Anatomy of the Cranial Nerves, by J.A. Vilensky, W.M. Robertson and C.A. Suárez-Quian (Wiley, 2015). He published the eight-book series of All-in-One Anatomy Exam Review: Image-Based Questions and Answers with his co-author, Dr. Vilensky. He is also the co-author of Functional Anatomy For Occupational Therapy (Books of Discovery Press, 2022), now in over 140 programs nationwide.

A native of La Habana, Cuba, Dr. Suárez came to the United States as a political refugee when he was seven years old. He is the son of Andrés Suárez and Hortensia Quian. He grew up in Miami and Gainesville, Florida, earned his B.S. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, did his graduate work at the Harvard University Medical School, and his post-doctorate work at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Despite being Cuban, he does not enjoy cigars.

Hans Engler was born in Germany and received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Heidelberg in 1981. He came to the US for postdoctoral training later that year and began teaching at Georgetown in 1984. He served as Mathematics Department Chair in the 1990s and started two masters programs in applied mathematics and in data analytics in the following decades. He also worked for several tours as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, held guest scientist appointments at NIST and NOAA, and worked as a consultant. His scientific interests are in applied mathematics and data science, with applications in climate science.

Together with Hans Kaper, he wrote a textbook on mathematics and climate, published
by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2013. He lives in Bethesda, MD
with his wife. Together they have two adult children and a grandson.

Professor Nollen’s field of research and teaching is international business. He studies firms and industries in emerging market economies and has directed foreign study programs in Delhi, Bangalore, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, and Seoul. He has been a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and the University of Antwerp, with Fulbright fellowships in Delhi and Prague. His recent published research is about software and hardware industries in India and China, and about the transition of firms in the Czech Republic. Publication outlets for his articles include the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Development Studies, International Organization, Industrial Relations, and Harvard Business Review, and books from Stanford University Press with the World Bank, and Sage. Professor Nollen twice received Fulbright awards in Delhi and in Prague. He was an academic visitor at the London School of Economics and at Universiteit Antwerpen. Professor Nollen teaches courses in international business and in macro- and micro-economics. He has won MBA teaching awards four times.