Gitty Amini It seems appropriate that Gitty Amini would teach classes on international politics, having lived in and visited various cultures around the world. Amini was born in Iran, where she spent most of her elementary years. In 1979 her family left Iran because of the revolution. "We were lucky," Amini says. "My mom is from Hong Kong and has a British passport, so we were able to go London." Her next move was to Orange County, Calif., where she attended high school and started the rest of her life. Amini continues to travel because her family is spread around the world. Not only has she been back to visit Iran and Hong Kong, but she has spent time in Europe visiting her mother in Spain and her father in England. “To keep in touch with them we have to travel,” Amini says. Despite having lived most of her life now in the United States, Amini is only recently discovering herself as an American. “Because basically most of my childhood was spent outside the U.S. and you form your identity from your childhood, it’s hard to think of myself as an American,” she says. But Amini says she often finds herself lapsing into the term “we” when referring to the United States during a lecture, and that was one of the first signs. “I’m not comfortable with the fact that maybe I’m just a citizen of the world,” Amini says. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m an American. It’s not that I don’t want to be an American, but it’s an odd thing to come to realize when I hadn’t thought of myself as an American.” On the other hand, Amini realizes it is her job to help her students see things from a different perspective. Different world views help her do that. "The thing that interests me the most is international conflict and war," Amini says, explaining, "How to avoid war, what to do in the crisis phase before war, the suspense of will we go to war? Not once war starts. I guess I like mystery." Amini may have been interested in politics since high school, but her views have taken a change in recent years after the arrival of her first child, Darya. “It’s made my view of international politics more long term, and I take it personally now,” she says. “It used to be I could study it with detachment. But now that I have a daughter, and the future is for her, it’s more personal to me how these things turn out.” Motherhood has also taught her to be more patient and selfless Amini says. She’s learned a lot from the experience and now realizes “good enough is good enough.” She openly says she’ll never be the perfect cook, housekeeper, mom or professor. “It’s never going to be perfect,” she says. “You have to make compromises.” As a teacher, Amini says she has high expectations and admits to being a tough professor, but at the same time she hopes to inspire her students. “I’m real passionate about politics, and I hope that my students will catch that bug from me,” she says. RETURN TO FACULTY LISTmailto:AMINIG@ulv.edu?subject=HELLOHome.htmlshapeimage_1_link_1
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