Mark S. Jendrysik
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Professor, Political Science & Public Adm
- Political Theory
Contact Info
- Email: mark.jendrysik@UND.edu
- Office: 701.777.3540
- Dept: 701.777.3831
Office Address
Nistler Hall Room 324B
3125 University Avenue, Stop 8379
Grand Forks, ND 58202-8379
Office Hours
On Leave Fall Semester Fall 2025.
Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Mark Stephen Jendrysik is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. He has been a faculty member at the University of North Dakota since 1999. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His B.A. is from Providence College. He is proud to share Chicopee, Massachusetts as his hometown with famed utopian author Edward Bellamy. (Be sure to read Looking Backward someday.) He is a graduate of Chicopee High School and a proud product of his hometown's public schools. While at Chicopee High he was a founding member of The Cylinders an artistic collective that created original music, comedy skits and short films.
Prior to his appointment at UND he held visiting positions at Bucknell University (1996-98) and the University of Mississippi (1998-99). He also held a post-doctoral appointment at the Center for Survey Research of the University of Virginia (1995-96). He likes to say that he was “seeing America one college at a time.”
Jendrysik has published and presented papers on early modern political thought, public opinion methodology, ethnic politics in the United States, utopian political theory, and contemporary American political thought and culture. He is the author of Explaining the English Revolution: Hobbes and His Contemporaries (Lexington, 2002) and Modern Jeremiahs: Contemporary Visions of American Decline (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008).
Dr. Jendrysik’s latest book, Utopia was published in May 2020 as part of the Key Concepts in Political Theory series by Polity.
His most recent publications are “Park Free or Die: Rural Consciousness, Preemption, and the Perennial North Dakota Parking Meter Debate” with David Flynn and Dana Michael Harsell in PS: Political Science and Politics Volume 56.1, 2023 (3-9); and “Utopian Enterprises: Growing Up With Star Trek” in Utopian Studies 34.2, 2023 (359-366).
Professor Jendrysik’s teaching interests include ancient and modern political thought, utopian political ideas, contemporary American political culture, ethics, and American government. He believes, as did Friedrich Nietzsche, that “a teacher has an obligation to make himself accessible to every level of intellect.”
He is committed to the high ideals of universal, public education. He believes, as did Mark Twain, that “public education IS democracy.” He credits Mad Magazine, Star Trek (TOS) and “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” with providing the basis for his life philosophy.
He is a member of a number of professional societies including the American Political Science Association, the Popular Culture Association and the Society for Utopian Studies. He also holds memberships in a number of honorary societies including Pi Sigma Alpha. He is a Renaissance member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and served as the faculty fellow for the North Dakota Alpha chapter from 2004-13. He is the Truman Scholarship Representative for UND and encourages students interested in a career in public service to meet with him to see if they might join the fourteen UND winners of this prestigious and life-changing award.
Dr. Jendrysik credits his grandfather Stephen B. Jendrysik, with getting him interested in politics. He likes to say that, "my grandfather made me watch the Watergate hearings in 1973 this was my start as a political scientist." He also points to his father Stephen R. Jendrysik for supporting his interest. Dr. Jendrysik notes that political discussions were a staple in the Jendrysik family. Dr. Jendrysik also notes that his professors at Providence College especially, Mark Hyde, Robert Trudeau and William Hudson, made him want to be a professional academic. At the University of North Carolina, Jack Donnelly, Mike Lienesch and Steve Leonard were role models.
He is pleased to note that his father has published four books on the history of Chicopee, Massachusetts. He is also pleased to note that his cousin, Father Walter Ciszek, SJ is being considered for sainthood. He recommends Father Walter's books With God in Russia and He Leadth Me to those seeking spiritual insight.
A lifelong Red Sox and Patriots fan, he has no time for bandwagoning Johnny-Come-Latelies. He also firmly believes that soccer is America’s sport of the future and is disappointed our star-spangled soccer girls didn’t win the World Cup in 2023. He looks forward to watching the World Cup here in the USA in 2026 and cheering on star-spangled soccer boys on to victory!
On Leave Fall 2025
Spring 2026 Courses:
Introduction to Political Thought
Politics and Diversity
- Political Theory
- American Political Culture
- Utopian Political Thought
Recent Publications
Book:
Utopia (Key Concepts in Political Theory) Cambridge, UK, Polity, 2020.
Book Chapters:
““A bad edition of a Polish king”: Thomas Jefferson and the Fear of Foreign Interference in U.S. Presidential Elections.” In Picking the President: Understanding the Electoral College 2nd edition, Eric Burin, editor, The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, 2025 (149-53).
“Endgames,” in Protesting on Bended Knee, Eric Burin, editor, The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, 2018 (221-223).
“Long Habits and Legitimacy,” in Picking the President: Understanding the Electoral College, Eric Burin, editor, The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, 2017 (49-51).
“Fundamental Oppositions: Utopia and the Individual,” in Individual and Utopia, Ashgate, 2015.
Articles:
“Cosplay meets Capitalism: San Diego Comic Con International, July 25-28, 2024.” Forthcoming in Utopian Studies.
“Utopian Enterprises: Growing Up With Star Trek.” Utopian Studies 34.2, 2023 (359-366).
“Park Free or Die: Rural Consciousness, Preemption, and the Perennial North Dakota Parking Meter Debate.” With David Flynn and Dana Michael Harsell. PS: Political Science and Politics. 56.1, 2023 (3-9).
“Egalitarian Populism on the High Plains. Or, Why Are There No Parking Meters in North Dakota?” With Dana Michael Harsell. The Journal of Popular Culture Volume 46.2, 2013 (394-410).
Instructor’s Resource Manual and Test Bank for American Government: Myths and Realities 2014 Election Edition. With Geoffrey Peterson. Oxford University Press, 2014.
“Bellamy, Edward (1850-98),” Encyclopedia of Political Thought, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014 (278).
“Filmer, Robert, (1588-1653),” Encyclopedia of Political Thought, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014 (1312-1313).
Recent Presentations
“Negotiating the Problems of Diversity: A Post-Civil War Legislative Simulation.” Presented at the American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference, February 2025.
“Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself, in all cases, as the ages and generations that precede it”: Thomas Paine and the “Jefferson Problem.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Politics Science Association, April 2024.
"Political Society Exists forthe Sake of Noble Actions: Friendship and the Good Life in Utopia." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopia Studies, November 2023.
"Look Upon My Works, ye Mighty and Despair: Crypto Communities, Blockchain Colonies and Desert Gigacities." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopia Studies, November 2023.
"Winter Soldiers and Merchant Captains: Shays' Rebellion as a Clash of Republican Visions." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 2021.
"The Imaginary Reconstruction of Capitalism: Cryptocurrency and the Libertarian Utopia." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies, November 2019.
“‘The Birthday of a New World’: Thomas Paine on the Beginning and End of Political History.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 2019.
“Does Utopia Have a Future?” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies, November 2018.
"Park Free or Die: The Great North Dakota Parking Meter Debate of 2017," with Dana Harsell. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 2018.
“Mighty Fortresses Against a New Dark Age: The Benedict Option as Utopian Expression” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies, November 2017.
“Communities of Total Commitment: The Utopian Legacy of Plato and Sparta” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies, November 2017.
“Making American Great(er) Again: Narratives of National Decline in the 2016 Presidential Election.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 2017.
“Ambitious Utopians?” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies, November 2015.
“Learning Political Skills through Historical Simulations,” with Anne Kelsch. Presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, January 2015.
“Doomsday Preppers, Castle Builders and Survivalists: Utopian Dystopians or Dystopian Utopians?” Presented at Annual Meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies, November 2013.
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor: University of North Dakota 1999-present
Visiting Assistant Professor: University of Mississippi 1998-99
Visiting Assistant Professor: Bucknell University 1996-98
Instructor in Goverment: University of Virginia, 1996
Research Associate: Center for Survey Research, University of Virginia, 1995-6
Instructor in Political Science: University of North Carolina 1991-93