October 31, 2024
Winthrop professor William Kiblinger teaches Political Science, Philosophy, Religion and Legal Studies. He is particularly involved in the Philosophy and Legal Studies area on campus.
Kiblinger’s tenure at Winthrop started in 2005, in which it’s almost been twenty years since his arrival. Outside of teaching duties, Kiblinger enjoys partaking in more outdoorsy and analytical events such as Racquetball and Chess respectively.
During his time at school, Kiblinger majored in Math and Religion, leading him to become a high school math teacher for around four years.
Kiblinger has also taught in countries outside the United States, including Switzerland and Austria. Though he loved teaching, his passions lay more in Religion and Philosophy.
These passions led Kiblinger to attend Graduate School at the University of Chicago. There, he earned his PhD and ended up teaching at a small college in Pennsylvania for three years. Afterward, he began teaching at Winthrop University.
He believes what led him here were the inspiring teachers he had along the way. Professor Kiblinger credits the teachers for helping him realize the passion he had for the areas of History, Philosophy and Theology. Recently, he has had an interest in studying Ancient/Biblical Greek and has been teaching the subject as a class at Winthrop.
With one word, Kiblinger described teaching as “enthusiastic.” He believes that if someone is teaching a specific topic, the instructor must first ensure that the student cares about the topic. He recommends everyone be enthusiastic about the topic they are teaching.
“There is an energy that has to be there to make anything else happen there afterwards,” professor Kiblinger explained. “I try to be enthusiastic and I try to exert and generate that in other people around me.” Kiblinger believes that is the ultimate goal an instructor should strive for when in the pursuit of teaching.
The pieces of advice professor Kiblinger would give to incoming freshmen or transfers are very helpful. He recommends they pursue their interest and under no circumstance limit themselves or “put boundaries around what you could do.” By preventing yourself from boxing yourself into one field or career early on, professor Kiblinger believes that students can lead themselves on a path that takes them farther than they could ever imagine.
“Study widely and do lots of activities,” professor Kiblinger clarified. “Broaden yourself and all those things. It might be tempting to come in and try to figure it all out and get it settled with where I’m going and what I’m trying to do. I’d say resist that, try to do different things and make sure to take advantage of different opportunities you have while you’re in college because you will not get the chance to do the same things later on.”
With over two decades of experience and enthusiasm, professor Kiblinger has made an extremely productive and eventful learning environment for all students across campus.
