Prof. Anand Teaches in the JSA Program at Princeton

In July Professor Ruchi Anand taught a summer course at Princeton University, as part of the Junior State of America programs. Dr. Anand has taught with JSA Summer Programs since 2001 at their Georgetown, Stanford and Princeton campuses.

This specialized summer program, which has been in existence for 80 years, is designed for all-rounder high-school students who are interested in politics, international relations and economics and who demonstrate their capability to undertake a program tailored along the lines of an undergraduate seminar. As a part of this program, each student attends a college-level course in Government (4 hours a day) and participate in intensive congressional debates.

Most notable alumni of JSA include Leon Panetta (Former United States Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA, White House Chief of Staff, US Congressman, and Member of the California State Senate, Mike McCurry (Press Secretary under President Clinton, Edwin Meese (Attorney General under President Reagan), businessman and inventor Charles Schwab, and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

In this picture, Dr. Anand is giving the graduation speech to an audience of over 360 people at the Berlind Theater Auditorium, in which her main messages were those of the organization namely “democracy is not a spectator sport” and “be the people”. When asked why she teaches int he JSA program as part of her summer break after a hectic teaching year, she said, “Teaching at this program is a very intense, demanding, rich and rewarding experience. The students are such political junkees and so enthusiastic that I get to recharge my teaching energy for the rest of the year."