Bridget Hester is a political science instructor in the history and political science department. Not only does she spend her time conducting classes, Hester is also the internship coordinator for political science and the undergraduate coordinator for history and political science.

Hester had attended Southeastern as an undergraduate and had “very good professors who were very dedicated to their profession,” which encouraged her to come back to carry on that legacy. 

Her mother, Amy Hester, was also an alumna, so she also has a family connection to the university.

Hester teaches a variety of classes, from introductory courses to statistics for political science, European politics and developing nations. Out of these classes, her favorite to teach is the special topics course called Women and Public Policy.

When asked what her favorite part of working with students is, Hester said,” Everything. I love to be able to be in conversation with students who are learning new things, and they get to express their opinions and whenever they come across new things, I am always learning new things as well. It is fun to be a part of someone’s learning and growth process.”

While Hester has not done many research projects, she does say that she would love to do a presentation on film and politics and at some point, do a lecture and even a whole special topics course one day.

Women in political science were underrepresented when Hester was a student, and that trend continues today.

“It should be normal to see lots of women in academia and lots of women bringing their their perspectives to the field,” Hester said, but she knows that women have long been underrepresented in a lot of fields.

On the other hand, she said that people may stereotype women into only teaching certain fields. However, she said, “I think it’s important for women to be in academia to show everyone that women belong in every aspect of the world. It should be as normal as seeing women at the grocery store.”