Dr. Eric Gonzalez Juenke

CLS Affiliation: CLS Core Faculty 

Position Title: Associate Professor of Political Science and Chicano/Latino Studies 

College and Department: College of Social Science and Department of Political Science 

Areas of Expertise: Latino politics; Black politics; state and local elections; U.S. elections; minority politics; legislative and bureaucratic minority representation; democratic theory 

How do you keep yourself centered? 

Exercise and cooking new things

What advice/tips/consejos would you give students in terms of navigating school? 

Create a fun group that you meet with every week or every other week. Play poker online, play other games online. Just make sure you see your friends and cohort frequently. Even when you aren't "feeling it" these get-togethers can really lift your spirits. Find a TV show online that has like 10+ seasons and lots of episodes. I have passed a lot of the time working my way through these long TV show seasons just whenever I get a chance. 

When not teaching, doing research, and/or preparing coursework, what do you like to do for fun or relaxation? 

Footgolf! Soccer golf if one of the few things we can do safely in the pandemic. Cook vegetarian dishes and make my family's Mexican favorites. I play with the kids (watching movies and playing board games). I exercise and watch TV shows with my wife.  I listen to mystery audio books. 

What (or who) inspires you? 

My students. My wife. People who are trying their best when everything is falling apart around them. 

What classes do you generally teach? 

Intro to CLS, Latino Politics, Minority Politics, Intro to American Politics

Anything else you would like to share with students and the CLS community?

This is going to get better. We are going to be back to normal at some point. Think about how far we've come in the last few months. Just keep going. Take care of yourself and each other. Try to find some positives every day. We watched a caterpillar turn into a butterfly in a container for two weeks this summer and that was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Now is not the time to feel guilty for just getting by. Whatever it takes, ice cream, french fries, Netflix binges, takeout every night, etc. do what makes you feel good and helps you right now. We will see you in-person sometime soon.  

To learn more about Dr. Juenke, visit MSU’s website at https://polisci.msu.edu/people/directory/juenke-eric.html 

You can follow Dr. Juenke and his work on Twitter by using the following handle: @egojunk1