Last Word with Nukhet Sandal

Nukhet Sandal, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and political science professor, is an expert in her field. She is the editor-in-chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies and the author of many books, chapters and articles featured in national and international media outlets, and her impressive work and research efforts in foreign policy, international conflicts and Middle Eastern politics have earned her numerous honors and awards. This year, Sandal was one of 26 emerging leaders named to the 2024-25 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program, a prestigious professional development program for college and university administrators.

What can you tell us about the project component of your ACE fellowship?

I am looking at how we can ensure that our students have hands-on experiences in their industry or with the community and have the right type of mentorship. Also, when they become alumni, how can we bring that alumni experience and mentorship back into the classroom so that our students are prepared through multiple experiences?

In that sense, industry engagement and alumni relations have always been a passion for me. I have not had the time to focus on that before the fellowship. I love talking to alumni. Our alumni have outstanding vision and amazing commitment. It is up to us to operationalize that commitment and vision and make sure that our students are benefiting from these experiences.

The fellowship project is finding the best practices of industry engagement around the nation and explore how we can best identify and use resources to create new opportunities for our students. This is a great experience for me, and President Gonzalez and her leadership team have been very supportive. 

Did you always want to work in international studies and higher education?

I grew up in a very politically minded family. I have a lot of military and diplomatic folks in my family, and I also had multiple religious and ethnic identities around me, which were negotiated in daily life. I loved reading, writing, learning new languages. My mom was working at the Belgium embassy, and we regularly had international friends and colleagues in our house speaking multiple languages, so that was part of our upbringing. But I did some exploration—not everybody knows this about me—I studied a few years of dentistry.

I could not go with dentistry because I have zero hand skills. I can barely put on eyeliner in the morning. It was going really badly, and I didn't have the opportunity to do things that I love doing, like writing and reading. I had a few mentors and my brother, who I am very close to, tell me, “Look, you are not cut out for this job. And you can do many things that you are actually really good at.”

It was hard, at the time, to hear that. I remember a mentor, who was a dentist and a family friend, told me that I should go and do diplomacy or international relations, and I took it really hard. It is difficult when you are a really good student your entire life and, all of a sudden, at the end of your third year you are like, “OK, maybe I'm not.”

I always tell my students and their families that the best decision I made was to quit dentistry. Since that day I have never felt like I was actually working, and the word “retirement” means nothing to me because I won't ever retire. I always joke that I will drop dead in a classroom at some point. I love what I'm doing and I don't get tired, and it would not have been the same if I had pursued dentistry. At the time it felt like a failure, but it was the best decision ever.

Can you describe your teaching philosophy?

I think the best way to explain it is that I see every student as a junior colleague, so I do not see this as a hierarchical relationship. I also understand that every student takes a course for different reasons.

For example, when I'm teaching Middle Eastern politics, a student may be taking it because they need to take a political science class and this looked good. Or is this the only class that fits their time? Or because of family reasons, because they want to become a diplomat in the future? There's a wide range, and it's not fair to expect the same performance or the same dedication from each student. So one thing I do in the beginning of the class is give them background surveys that say, “Just be honest, no judgment here: What is the reason you are taking this class?”

One thing I started doing midway through my career here is evaluating students based on their preferences. I have a grading menu, and there are some suggested items: Do you like watching movies and writing movie reviews? Do you want to do some art-related work, or are you a more long-papers person and would like to work on a bigger project? Or maybe they are a great exam taker, so I let them take three exams and most of their grades are satisfied through those exams.

I sit down with every student at the beginning of the semester, and we talk about their goals for the class and decide what we would like to do for the course. That has been really well-received, because students appreciate having a say in how they are assessed. I love getting to know every student in-person. Even in bigger classes, I will get to know their names and what they like, what their perceived strengths are.

How did you end up at OHIO?

The way the academic market works is, you apply for positions, you get invitations, you go to different institutions, interview and then make a quick decision. I was interviewing at multiple institutions, and the reason I chose OHIO is that people are amazing here. There were top researchers in my department especially, but also they were really fun to talk to and to hang out with. I remember after interviewing here and seeing the campus, I just went to my hotel room, emailed other universities and said I was done. Then I called the search chair at the time at OHIO and I said, “I'm coming.”

Another factor was that I really appreciate the international community in Athens. I met many colleagues from different countries, and I heard that there are student populations from different countries. When I was getting my Ph.D. and when I lived in Los Angeles, my friend circle was very diverse—and I wanted to continue that diversity. That’s really a key part of my identity as well. I do research on this and I am an immigrant, so I really appreciate that about Ohio University. I love seeing the emphasis we put on everybody belonging. If you come from a different country, that's great! Come be part of our community. I really appreciate that.

Ultimately, I really love Athens. I love Ohio University. My husband is a fourth-generation Bobcat. So yeah, we are all hardcore OHIO.

How do you fill your down time?

I like doing different things, but I also feel that everything you do informs your work.
I love reading about tech, for example. I love listening to podcasts about medicine, forensics, different areas. I travel a lot. I love traveling, and I read a lot about travel as well. I like trying different things, but also I have to admit that I love what I'm doing so much that that is at the center.

I still spend quality time with my husband and our four cats. Everyone who knows me knows my passion for all critters. I try to play with my cats for at least 15 minutes a day. It's really important to spend quality time with your loved ones, and I have learned that more in life. I try to do that with my brother. I talk to my mom every day. I pay attention to that, and it's part of my to-do list: check in with mom, check in with my brother, play with the cats and walk with the husband. Those are things you need to make time for.

Feature photo by Rich-Joseph Facun, BSVC ’01