<p>Lisa Samuel teaches international relations courses in the Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies at NYU SPS. She was previously a research associate in the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University, where she also taught in the Department of Politics and International Relations. She also played a leading role as a member of the faculty team that designed and implemented the International Studies Program at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.</p>

<p>Samuel owes much of her success to her colleague Howard Mitchell. &quot;When I first entered legal practice, he taught me all he knew about the art of negotiation,” she recalled. “Over the course of the past 30 years, he has steadfastly encouraged and supported me and every project I have undertaken,&quot; she shared.&nbsp;</p> <p>According to Samuel, Mitchell has critically read every manuscript she's ever completed. &quot;In particular, he waded through my doctoral dissertation and challenged me to clarify and strengthen my arguments,&quot; she explained.</p> <p>Mitchell has been a sounding board for Samuel's &quot;hare-brained schemes&quot; for as long as she can remember. &quot;Whenever I seek his counsel, he readily gives it, and I know it always comes from one who has my very best interests at heart,&quot; she shared. &quot;I am grateful to be able to call him not only a teacher, but a colleague, mentor, and friend.&quot;</p>

<p>Another inspirational figure in Samuel's life is Iris Marion Young—a brilliant, creative political theorist and activist for social justice. &quot;She created intricate and compelling theories of justice, power and oppression, gender and democracy, challenging dominant disciplinary norms in the most humane ways,&quot; explained Samuel. &quot;Her work on the politics of difference in a domestic social context has inspired my own thinking on structural difference in international trade.&quot;</p> <p>As a doctoral student in 2006, Samuel and her dissertation supervisor were in the process of planning to invite Young to speak at Florida International University when they learned of her untimely death at the age of 57. &quot;I wish that I'd had a chance to meet her and to ask her to guest lecture in one of my classes,&quot; she intimated. &quot;I believe that my students would have been as inspired and as moved by her brilliance and her humanity as I continue to be.&quot;</p>

<p>When asked her favorite word, Samuel had more than one answer—conviviality, humility, and justice, to name a few. Another favorite word describes how she spends her free time—liming. To lime is a phrase used in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the Caribbean as a synonym for &quot;a gathering&quot; or &quot;to hang out.&quot; Samuel loves to lime with her family and friends, baking (especially cakes), lounging at the beach, and dancing to soca-calypso.</p> <p>A <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ba-in-social-sciences.html" title="BA in Social Sciences">BA in Social Sciences</a> from NYU SPS can open doors that you may have never imagined were possible. See where you can start the next chapter of your career with a degree from the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/division-of-applied-undergraduate-studies.html" title="Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies">Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies</a>.</p>