Strengthening of academia – About experts

Agnes Simon is a Faculty Development Advisor at Masaryk University, working on the Erasmus+ Project “Extending and Reinforcing Good Practice in Teacher Development”. She has dual interests in Political Science and Teaching and Learning. She has earned her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri in 2012 and specializes in American foreign policy. Her current research focuses on U.S. presidential summit meetings, the U.S-Soviet Hotline, and teaching about foreign policy decision-making. She taught a variety of courses in International Relations, American Politics, and Methodology, including Statistics and Academic Writing, at various private and public liberal arts and research universities in the United States. She also serves as a facilitator at the ECPR Teaching and Learning Summer School. Her interest in teaching and learning is primarily in online/hybrid learning, the use of simulations and games in the classroom, reflective learning, problem-based learning, and developing critical writing skills.

Gabriela Pleschová works at the Institute of International Relations, University of Economics in Bratislava. Her disciplinary background is in Political Science (2004, PhD., from Slovak Academy of Science). Aside from this, she is a graduate from Oxford University (2012, MSc. in Education). Her studies on teaching and learning appeared in journals as for example European Political Science and Journal of Political Science Education. She is the co-editor of “Teacher Development in Higher Education. Existing Programs, Program Impact and Future Trends” (Routledge, 2012). She is the co-convenor of Teaching and Learning Politics standing group of the European Consortium for Political Research. In 2013 she was awarded Senior Fellowship from the Higher Educational Academy.