Sandra Hinchman
Professor of Government

Sandy Hinchman has been a member of the faculty at St. Lawrence since 1975, having earned her A.B. from Vassar College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. She specializes in political philosophy and teaches political theory classes. “I teach the canonical works from Plato to NATO, and my classes study everything in between, like Machiavelli and Marx,” she says.

Hinchman combines her love of travel and nature with her academic passion in political philosophy to work in a relatively new field known as green political theory. “It took me a while to realize I could combine my two passions – nature and political theory,” she says. “When my husband and I started doing research in this field we realized there wasn’t a lot out there. We feel as though we are pioneers in ‘green’ political thought.”

Hinchman’s love of travel has taken her around the world, including a sabbatical in Australia during which she wrote a paper on Aboriginal land rights. She also wrote the guidebook Hiking the Southwest’s Canyon Country and plans to do research in Mexico on sabbatical during the 2004-2005 academic year.

“Being at a small liberal arts college allows close relationships to develop that can last long after Commencement,” she says. “I still keep in touch with some of my first students. Having a close relationship with my students has certainly been a plus.”

In February 2003, she introduced one former student--painter, photographer and actor Viggo Mortensen ’80—when he spoke in Brush Art Gallery during a weekend visit to his alma mater.