Biography

Salt Lake Community College - Political Science

Professor of Political Science
Higher Education
Mary
Barker
Salt Lake City, Utah
After 20 years in Spain, where I taught in the study abroad programs of Saint Louis and Syracuse universities and served as the director of two programs – Academic Year Abroad and the Program of North American Language and Culture at the International Institute of Spain (IIE) – I returned home to care for my aging parents. I have taught both political science and EFL; created successful courses and curriculum; written budgets; created marketing campaigns and outreach programs; and hired, trained, and mentored faculty. My return to the States has allowed me the time to develop a long-awaited writing career, including the publication of 38 articles.

My course, “Religion, Identity, and Power,” was so popular at Syracuse University that a second section was opened to accommodate the demand, after which enrollment caps were lifted. For the IIE, I created a bilingual youth group as well as a proficiency program for adults who had already completed the IIE’s regular curriculum, thus expanding the IIE community in two directions. I also helped create the EFL program for the Pozuelo campus of the Universidad Pontificia Compultense.

I wrote a column for the Deseret News, and have published in El Pais, the leading newspaper of Spain, as well as Religion Dispatches, Salon, and Truthout. I am currently working on the development of a possible Mormon theology of liberation (two volumes), as well as the promotion of two educational initiatives.

I am passionately devoted to the study of politics and to the development of the whole human person, especially through education. My interests include the philosophy of knowledge; intellectual history; existential approaches to spirituality and work; intercultural understanding; and debates concerning economic efficiency, individual responsibility, and social justice.