Dr. Paige Tan teaches both Comparative Government and International Relations.
Radford Courses:
- POSC 130 Changing the World
- POSC 231 Comparative Politics
- POSC 343 Asian Politics
- POSC 344 Middle East Politics
- POSC 345 Developing Country Politics
- POSC 350 US Foreign Policy
- POSC 351 Model United Nations
- POSC 352 International Development
- POSC 354 Ethics in International Affairs
- POSC 355 Terrorism
- POSC 390 Chinese Politics
- POSC 392 Political Science Careers
- POSC 490: Capstone: Dictators and Dictatorships
Research
Much of Tan's academic research focuses on political parties and their role in democracies/dictatorships
in Asia. She has written many articles on Indonesia’s democratization since the fall
of the Dictator Suharto in 1998. In 2024, she submitted an article to a book celebrating
the life and work of Indonesian activist Julia Suryakusuma. In the area of teaching
and learning, she has published on teaching data literacy using the Lowy Asia Power
Index (Education about Asia, Winter 2019). In international recognition of her work, Dr. Tan served as an Indonesia
country expert in the Varieties of Democracy global research project (2021-2023).
Dr. Tan’s research informs her teaching. When teaching about democratic transitions
or political parties, she can bring to the class real stories from the ground during
Indonesia’s transition to democracy such as observing Indonesia's 2004 presidential
elections. She can share her interviews with Indonesian party leaders with students,
so they can see how people like them around the world face the important political
challenges before them. Further, the process of engaging in research improves our
ability to structure an inquiry and solve problems; these abilities can then be shared
with students who can then take the to the world of work.
Service
Paige believes in service to the students, faculty, university, community, profession,
and the world.
At Radford, she supports the growth of Model United Nations. In Model UN, students simulate international diplomacy, representing country delegates
and interacting with others to find solutions to world problems. Model UN increases
students’ knowledge of world affairs. It also enhances students’ abilities in networking,
leadership, negotiation, and public speaking. Model UN also enhances students’ confidence
and abilities to think on their feet.
Dr. Paige Tan also seeks to increase the number of our students participating in study
abroad. She serves as department study abroad advisor. Further, she regularly advises
undergraduate independent study projects and internships in the department.
On campus, Paige has served as chair of the University’s Core Curriculum Advisory
Committee (2017-2019). In 2021, she and faculty colleagues created a new exposition
for student research called the Wicked Festival, in which students present their ideas for solutions to persistent public problems.
In the community, she contributes and has lectured on Asian politics and foreign policy to Virginia Tech's Great Decisions
and Lifelong Learning Institute seven times from 2017-2025. She also served as the
vice president of the board of her neighborhood association (member 2019-2021).
In her profession, Paige served as a board member of the Southern Regional Model United
Nations (2017-2021). SRMUN puts on two Model UN conferences each year, one in Atlanta
(November) and one in Charlotte (March/April). Tan also served six times as an application
reviewer for the Boren Scholarships, a US government fellowship for students to study
languages critical to US national security (2019-2024).
Previously, Dr. Tan has advised the Drug Enforcement Administration and the State
Department (Washington, DC); the World Bank (Jakarta, Indonesia); as well as the US
military (Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune, NC).