Last fall and spring, as Mingus Mapps was lobbying to teach his new course, "Campaigns and Elections," the election season was heating to a slow simmer. The semester his course was accepted, the strength of the political mobilization on the Bowdoin campus helped make "Campaigns and Elections" one of the most sought-after courses at Bowdoin.
Since Maine has now become a swing state in this election, the major candidates have frequent stops in the state. This, Mapps believes, has created the potential for synergy between his classroom and the real world. "One of the most special things about an event like seeing the vice president or the president come to speak is that it makes the subject matter more tangible, and this aspect is just what you hope for in teaching," he said. About the election itself, however, all Mapps will say is, "At this point, the election is an uphill struggle for Kerry."
Mapps, who just joined the faculty last year, tries to organize class time so that the structure leans more toward an overview of concepts, and partisan ranting is kept to a minimum. There is still a wealth of lively debate between factions as there are many diehards from both sides of party lines. Mapps' goal for the class, however, is to turn these staunch Democrats and Republicans into better Democrats and better Republicans?to make them aware of the reasons for their political beliefs.
When so much in this political culture is negative, Mapps said he tries to "create a space where people can discuss their beliefs in a safe and respectful environment. I hope that this serves the Bowdoin community well."
"I am moved by the commitment to the democratic process that I have seen by both Democrats and Republicans in this election," he said. "I see students getting involved in politics; they are exhausted from going to voter registration drives and going to classes at the same time. Whatever I can do to support that kind of dedication is a top priority for me."
Another course Mapps is teaching this semester is "Race and American Political Development," which tells the story of America's struggle to achieve racial equality from colonial times to present day. Next semester, he will teach "Race and Representation," a course about the evolution of civil rights law in the U.S., as well as "Race and Equality and Social Policy," a course whose objective is to identify the roots of racial inequality in the U.S. and to look for social policy solutions that will eradicate injustice.
Once students get to know Mapps as a teacher, they want to get to know him as an individual. Then, the question of the origin of his first name is an inevitable one. The answer? His parents were great fans of the legendary jazz musician Charles Mingus, a double bassist famous for his "pianistic" jazz technique. Is Mapps interested in jazz? The answer is yes. Does he play? No, Mapps said. "I inherited the name, but unfortunately none of the talent," he said, jokingly.
Born and raised in the Bay Area of San Francisco, Mapps attended Reed College as an undergrad. Reed, a small liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, has an enrollment of 1200, a school population even smaller than Bowdoin.
This size definitely helped to prepare him for life at Bowdoin, Mapps said. His experiences in government classes, where he had rich conversations with students and faculty, gave him the incentive to pursue a political science degree. "And I never stopped," he said. "It's been one long conversation ever since."
But Mapps did not make his first discovery of politics in college. He describes his first political memory as watching Nixon announce his resignation on TV. "It was not something I could understand at the time," he said, "but I saw the adults around me who were impacted by the event. Ever since then, politics held a central fascination for me."
Mapps advises students to spend time getting involved with politics. He emphasizes that it takes fewer steps than one would think to move from the classroom to the governor's office. Mapps himself spent a few years after college working on campaigns in Maine and Oregon, focusing specifically on school funding issues.
He was part of the successful campaign to elect Beverly Stein to the chair of the county commission in Portland, Oregon. He was also on a Stein team that worked to get a ballot initiative off the ground for stable funding for schools in Portland's Multnomah County.
Mapps recalled that working on Stein's campaign was a rewarding experience, as her team was energetic, enthusiastic, and committed to re-defining government as a humane and efficient organ.
When asked for his definition of what government should be, Mapps closely aligned himself with what he described as Stein's philosophy. "The process of government is a journey of how you can render services more efficiently and how you can make government more responsive to the people, and how government can play a role in fostering a more humane society," he said.
Mapps considered becoming a political scientist, as well as a lawyer, but the "life of the mind mattered more. I really only sacrificed earning potential, when you think about it," he said, chuckling. Mapps still does some legal work when he is not preparing work for the next day's class, he said.
In fact, he is now involved in turning his dissertation into a book, which, he said, will be based on personal research on minority representation and state politics.
During what is left of his free time?although he is skeptical that such a thing exists?Mapps tries to jog and stay in shape. He also considers himself a minor history buff, taking time on the weekends to explore the nooks and crannies of Maine for areas of historical interest.
"If you're willing to get out on your bike or in your car and look around in Maine, you can really find some magical places," he said. As evidence, he cites an island near his home, where there is an old Union fort that once stood to ward off the Confederate navy in case it attempted to attack Maine by sea.
The students at Bowdoin have been wonderful to him, he said. "One of the reasons I wanted to become an academic is the fact that the ideas are not confined to the classroom," he said. "The debates you begin there can spill over to the dorm rooms, to the dining halls.
"I do feel like there is a broad community debate at Bowdoin. The students here have fed me ideas, energy, and hope. People moan and groan about young people, but I see they care about this world. They have great ideas, energy, and enormous commitment. Where else would you want to be?"