DePauw Stories

As a member of the steering committee overseeing DePauw’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program, Derek Ford regularly ponders peace.

But in September, the assistant professor of education studies became a participant in history when he was among 18 people, including former President Jimmy Carter, invited to participate in the two-day 2018 Global Peace Forum on Korea.

It was the first time, Ford says, that South Korean scholars and politicians and North Korean ambassadors, interacted outside of formal government channels.

“It was really powerful and moving to see the Koreans laughing with each other,” he says. “It was also interesting that the North Korean ambassadors were engaging in very open conversation.”

Ford, whose research focus is philosophy and history of education, recently began his second three-year term as associate editor of the journal Issues in Teacher Education.

“I’m involved in working hand-in-hand with the editor for the day-to-day operations of the journal – handling submissions, assigning reviewers and communicating with authors,” he says. He also supervises DePauw junior Savannah Wilcek, who is gaining experience as managing editor of the journal.

Ford says his work on the journal “is a great way to stay up to date on the latest cutting-edge research and trends in teacher education.”

That’s the primary reason he chooses to take on the additional work. “Another reason,” he says, “is that I like editing, learning about things and being exposed to as many different ideas as possible.”

Over fall break, Ford was in England at the University of East London to talk about his new book, “Politics and Pedagogy in the ‘Post-Truth’ Era,” coming out Nov. 1.

“Politics has never really been about existing truth, but rather, political struggle is about formulating and realizing new truths,” he says. “For example, if we were to say all people are equal, that’s not true. But we could say our politics are that all people are equal, and then our politics is about fighting to make that real.”

In addition to all those extracurricular undertakings, Ford is focused on his teaching. This semester he’s teaching a new course, Philosophy and Alternative Educational Spaces, and offering another new course in the spring.

And while he clearly enjoys his work, he also finds time for some fun in Indianapolis, where he lives with his wife and two dogs, Otis, a Border Terrier mix, and Felix, a Havapeke. The four explore the city often by foot, but more recently, he and his wife have ventured out on rental electric scooters.