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Prof. Jennifer Imsande

Prof. Jennifer Imsande is associate director of the Masters Program in Advocacy and Political Leadership (MAPL) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. The only program of its kind in the nation, MAPL fosters hands-on training in real-world applications of public policy for emerging leaders. Since joining the program in 2005, Dr. Imsande has worked with a wide range of students, from recent college graduates to newly retired professionals, with such diverse backgrounds as legislative staff, labor organizing, military service and the nonprofit community. Working in collaboration with Director Wy Spano, Imsande teaches core classes, supervises MAPL faculty and staff, facilitates recruitment and outreach efforts, and coordinates a highly regarded internship program.

Students and colleagues regularly nominate Imsande for recognition as an outstanding teacher. Her MAPL courses include:

• Gender and Public Policy
• Political and Advocacy Leadership
• Civic Engagement and Political Culture
• Political Organizing and Communication

A scholar of women and gender in U.S. history, Imsande did her doctoral work at the University of Iowa, where she was named a Presidential Graduate College Fellow. Before joining the University of Minnesota faculty, she taught History and Women’s Studies at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minn., where she also served as Executive Director of the Gordon Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government.

Promotion of women’s rights has been a constant theme in Imsande’s career. Her doctoral dissertation explored rhetorical strategies used through history by advocates for women – specifically, how women interacted with political keywords like freedom, security and protection in times of international and domestic insecurity. As a scholar and activist she has also addressed issues concerning the needs of rural women and children. Other interests include municipal planning and union work. She has been active in faculty unions both at Central Lakes College and at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where she serves on the University Education Association executive committee and as a representative to the Benefits Advisory Committee of the University Senate in the Twin Cities.

But she reserves a particular passion for issues of leadership: how to teach it, how to identify and nurture it, and how institutions and organizations can measure their success in developing it. That passion leads her to teach an undergraduate course in leadership, and to serve on the Leadership Advisory Board for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Liberal Arts and Sciences Advisory Board for Lake Superior College, Duluth. She is at work developing an assessment tool for leadership education.

In her spare time, Imsande contributes essays and op-ed articles to publications and maintains a lifelong devotion to sport and fitness. A Division I hurdler in college, she now competes as an elite-class athlete in triathlons.