Chair of the Sociology Department Kurt Cylke (pictured above) has been teaching sociology at Geneseo for 32 years and truly enjoys teaching students about evolving problems within society. Cylke also teaches several summer classes abroad and encourages all students to study out of the country (Udeshi Seneviratne/photo editor).
A lover of teaching, an advocate for the study abroad program and Chair of the Sociology Department, Kurt Cylke continues to express his love for the sociological field, imparting his admiration for its different areas on his dedicated students.
Cylke continues to demonstrate his love for sociology, especially its contemporary problems. With the constantly changing political and social issues of the world, he hopes to encourage students to advocate for reform.
“I’ve been teaching the class for 32 years, and you’d think it’d get boring but it never does. Our problems have become much more complex and we’re much more severe in comparison to those of our peer nations,” Cylke said. “Helping students to understand how we got to where we are and what we might be able to identify as areas that need reform is constantly an exciting thing to do.”
In addition to the several classes he teaches, Cylke partakes in the Study Abroad program, leading a group of students every other summer to Amsterdam. With these eye-opening experiences and with his unique sociological perspective, he maintains an abundant fascination for the diverse city.
“[I teach Comparative Social Policy] every other summer in Amsterdam. The Dutch are a much more pragmatic political system. They tend to approach their social problems from a very pragmatic perspective,” Cylke said. “And if they’re doing something that doesn’t work well, they stop doing it and find something else to do to try to address it. It’s refreshing to go and have the students experience a society with a government that functions in such a pragmatic way.”
As a professor who has a strong understanding of society and who loves learning about different cities, Cylke is an advocate for the college’s study abroad program. He encourages all students who have the opportunity to travel in college to do so, as they will gain a greater understanding of the outside world and familiarize themselves with different cultures and governmental systems.
“I’m a huge advocate of study abroad, as an eye-opening and potentially life-changing experience. And so, if I could, I would have every student study abroad, if not for a whole semester, for at least a summer session,” Cylke said. “I think the biggest lesson I like to impart to students is being open to trying to make sense of different experiences.”
With the distinct passion and love he has for teaching, Cylke hopes to impress upon the importance of new experiences to students who want to learn more about the surrounding world.