A Man With A Few Words

Politics seems to be an issue that is in all aspects of human life.  Anywhere you turn, there seems to be an ad or a commercial praising one politician and shaming the other. This job deals with plenty of issues that happen to be dividing our country.  But someone has to get their hands dirty and do the job that brings in the most controversy.  With that there are professors around the country that educate the younger generations about politics and the parties different viewpoints.  Political Science is a major you can take here at Bloomsburg that teaches the basics and gets you to the door of opportunity.  There are a couple of professors that teach political science, but there is one who stands above them all.  He happens to be Dr. Peter Doerschler. 

Dr. Peter Doerschler

Whenever you step into his classroom, you're almost guaranteed to be greeted with a face that has seen plenty of hardships.  Like a typical presidential portrait or the face of a Roman statue, there is almost no emotion shown. It is not like he is unapproachable, he is just a man that is the prime example of the stoicism philosophy.  For someone to be like that, then you can almost guarantee that not many mistakes will be made on his end. 

Dr. Peter Doerschler is a tall middle-aged man that has a white scruffy beard that is lined up to his jaw line with a stare on his face that makes you think he is about to tell you the realist story ever.  He does not say much outside of class, but if he knows you then he might say hello or how are you doing?  Don't let that fool you.  He is always open to getting to know students during his office hours or any free chance he has.  Dr. Doerschler doesn't shy away from lending a helping hand to students, as he has helped me plenty of times.  Occasionally, I will ask him questions about life which one happened to be what his favorite part of the job is. Quickly he responded with "Talking to the students" while he leaned back in his chair, nodding his head with approval and assured with his answer. 

Sometimes I will stop by Dr. Doerschler's office to joke around with him in attempt to break this terminator image he has.  Last week I was able to talk to him about his life rather than mine.  Looking at him with his right hand free and left hand tucked away in his pocket, you wouldn't know that he loves the country Germany.  He spent some time in Germany, where he studied abroad and got his Masters in German. 

It all got started for him on the political side in Germany.  One day he was able to hear a political figure by the name of Gregor Gysi and everything changed for him.  Sitting in his chair, thinking deep into the past, he said "There were 1-2 people around and he just walked up to a bench in the middle of the university and just started speaking his mind.  I liked that he didn't have an entrance, he just walked up and started talking and I felt like he was talking to me with his fascinating ideas."  Hearing the story from back then and seeing the success he's had, you will have no doubt that Dr. Doerschler is a very accomplished man.

Dr. Doerschler currently holds the advisor spot for the model UN and the former department of chair which he held for a couple of years before stepping down after the colleges merged together.  Hearing of him stepping down, I was curious about if he would be retiring in which he said "I plan on sticking around for another 10 years."  That led me to ask him about what he wants the students to take away from him in his classes.  Leaning forward with his elbows on the desk and hands together, you could see him thinking deep and he then looked at me and said "Hopefully they take away something that made you think, not change your opinion but make you challenge your own thinking". 

The GOAT!

Since 2008, Dr. Doerschler has been holding it down and teaching hundreds of students the political world and changing their lives for the better.  He is a family man that works hard to provide for his family and to teach the very best class he can.  You can bet your bottom dollar that nobody works harder or prepares more than Dr. Doerschler.  

When you walk into his classroom and you see no smile, right hand free and left hand in his pocket, you can guarantee that you will be learning something that day, regardless if you want to or not.  Dr. Doerschler is a professional.