Faculty & Staff

Off campus Winter, Spring 2025

Office Hours: TBA

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 100-02 Argument & Inquiry: American Elections of 2024, Hasenstab 105, T/Th 10:10AM-11:55AM – Syllabus
• POSC 204-00/304-00 2024 United States Election / Media & Elections 2024, Hasenstab 002, T/Th 1:15PM-3:00PM – Syllabus

Barbara Allen completed her PhD at Indiana University. She teaches courses in American politics, feminist political theory, politics and the media, and constitutional law. Her broad interests include research related to liberal philosophy, democratic theory, institutional analysis and design, rational choice, and policy and law related to gender and race. Her areas of specialization related to empirical theory and methodology include quantitative methods, political socialization and behavior, public opinion, and theories of learning. Professor Allen writes extensively on applying Tocqueville’s theories to contemporary politics and policy. Other publications include her research on Martin Luther King’s contributions to American political thought. She is a contributing editor to The Martin Luther King Papers Project at Stanford University and a fellow at the Mondale Policy Forum at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Allen also is a recipient of several grants including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Earhart Foundation fellowships.

Off-Campus Study (Beyond) Nationalism and Xenophobia in Central and Eastern Europe

Office Hours: TBA

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 160-00 Political Philosophy, Hasenstab 105, T/Th 1:15PM-3:00PM – Syllabus

Mihaela Czobor-Lupp holds a PhD in Government from Georgetown University and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bucharest (Romania). Professor Czobor-Lupp is the author of Imagination in Politics: Freedom or Domination? (Lexington Books, 2014) and The Mirror and The Shadow. E.T.A. Hoffmann: The Phenomenology of the Romantic Ego (Univers, 1998). She also co-edited with J. Stefan Lupp, Moral, Legal, and Political Values in Romanian Culture (The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Washington, DC, 2002). Her work has been published in The Review of Politics, Contemporary Political Theory, European Journal of Political Theory, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, and numerous other peer-reviewed journals in English and Romanian. Currently, Professor Czobor-Lupp works on two projects. In one of them she explores, through a comparative discussion of Hannah Arendt and the Romanian Jewish writer, Mihail Sebastian, the ability of thinking to counteract extreme politics and ideologies. In the other project, she explores the possibilities of reimagining the idea of Europe from within places, such as the Balkans, which are at the edge of Europe and on its periphery and are characterized by an unsettling, ambiguous, and creative in-betweenness and hybridity. Besides the introductory classes to political philosophy, Professor Czobor-Lupp teaches classes on post-modern political thought, imagination, memory, and politics, cosmopolitanism, religion and politics, the relationship between power and freedom.

Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00-3:00pm and 5:00-7:00pm, and by appointment.

Fall ’24 Course:

• POSC 260.00 Political Philosophy of Rousseau, Weitz 233, T/Th 1:15PM-3:00PM – Syllabus

Laurence Cooper received his PhD from Duke University. Most of his research has addressed the question of human flourishing—what it is, how we can know what it is (if indeed we can know), what it requires from education and politics, and the risks that arise from misunderstanding it.  In addition to a number of scholarly articles and chapters, he has published three books: Rousseau, Nature, and the Problem of the Good Life (1999), Eros in Plato, Rousseau, and Nietzsche: The Politics of Infinity (2008), and Dreaming of Justice, Waking to Wisdom: Rousseau’s Philosophic Life (University of Chicago Press, 2023). His present research is an inquiry into the possibility of popular enlightenment.  Professor Cooper teaches courses in ancient and modern political philosophy.

Off Campus Fall 2024

Office Hours: Mondays 1:00-3:00pm, and by appointment

Christina Farhart completed her PhD at the University of Minnesota in August 2017 in the fields of American politics and political methodology, with a minor in political psychology. She holds a BA in Political Science and Psychology, as well as an MA in Political Science from Colorado State University and an MA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. Prior to her graduate work at the University of Minnesota, she worked for the National Science Foundation in the Division of Social and Economic Sciences and as a grant coordinator for the American Educational Research Association. Professor Farhart’s research interests are anchored in political participation and civic engagement, utilizing theories from political science, psychology, and mass communication. Her dissertation work focuses on political disaffection and learned helplessness in contemporary political contexts related to conventional and unconventional political behavior, as well as consequential political attitudes and beliefs. Her research also includes the use of alternative methodologies to study electoral behavior and political attitudes, e.g., implicit candidate evaluations and better-informed models to explain political participation and voter turnout. Beyond her dissertation work, she and her coauthors are studying the political and psychological explanations for conspiracy endorsement and political misinformation.

Office Hours:  Mondays 1:30-3PM, Thursdays 1-2:30PM, and by appointment

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 232-00 Political Science Lab: Interview Techniques, CMC 328, T 1:15PM-3:00PM – Syllabus
• POSC 324-00 Women & War in the Middle East, Hasenstab 002, T/Th 10:10AM-11:55AM – Syllabus

Summer Forester completed her Ph.D. in Political Science at Purdue University. Upon graduation, Forester joined the Purdue Policy Research Institute where she worked on a Gates Foundation funded project that examines the role of women’s movements and transnational feminist activism in promoting women’s economic empowerment around the world.

Forester’s current book project (based on her award-winning dissertation), Security Threats and The Policy Agenda: Understanding State Action on Women’s Rights in the Middle East, explains how militarism and security issues affect the adoption of women’s rights in semi-authoritarian regimes. Using both statistical analyses and primary data collected during 18 months of fieldwork as a Fulbright scholar in Jordan, her work shows how debates about women’s rights are informed by the security context in which policymakers and activists work. She has presented her research at domestic and international conferences, including the European Conference on Politics and Gender held in Amsterdam in July 2019. Forester’s work has appeared in Feminist Review and Global Environmental Politics.

In addition to her work in Jordan, Forester conducted fieldwork for her post-doctoral project in Morocco, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania during the spring and summer of 2019. Forester interviewed parliamentarians, directors of women’s rights organizations, lawyers, activists, and members of women-run cooperatives about land rights, equality in employment laws and practices, and financial inclusion. These interlocutors discussed both the opportunities for and barriers to advancing economic justice for women in their communities and around the world. Findings from Forester’s fieldwork will be part of a larger book project – written in collaboration with scholars from Simon Fraser University and Purdue University – that includes analyses of feminist mobilization and economic empowerment in 127 countries from 1975 – 2015.

Office Hours: M/W 2:30-4:30pm, or by appointment.

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 100-00 Argument & Inquiry: Media Portrayal of Disasters, Hasenstab 109, M/W 9:50AM-11:00AM, F 9:40AM-10:40AM – Syllabus
• POSC 281-00 U.S.-China Rivalry: The New Cold War?, Hasenstab 109, M/W 12:30PM-1:40PM, F 1:10PM-2:10-PM – Syllabus

Huan Gao received her Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University. Her research agenda centers on spatial politics and civil society, with a regional focus on China. Her dissertation uses natural disasters and the ensuing destruction and reconstruction of cities as a window to analyze how space affects social mobilization and civil society development. It centers on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, supplemented by analyses of comparable disaster cases in the United States and Japan. This research program seeks to draw attention to the physical urban environment as an important yet overlooked aspect of state power and governance. Currently, Huan is working on a book project and continues to pursue her interest in spatial politics in China with an ongoing experiment project that investigates how spatial configurations affect social contact and cooperation.

Off-campus for the 24-25 Academic Year.

Office Hours: By appointment only via Google calendar

Devashree Gupta received her PhD in Government from Cornell University. Her research interests include the internal politics of nationalist and separatist movements, especially the relations between moderate and militant factions, as well as social movements and protest behavior more broadly. Her geographic area of specialty is Western Europe, with a particular focus on the politics of the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition to her book, Protest Politics Today (Polity Press, 2017), she has published her research in a variety of scholarly journals including Mobilization, PS: Political Science & Politics, Comparative Politics, and Comparative European Politics. Her current projects include an analysis of strategic redirections in Northern Ireland’s republican movement and the conditions under which tactical change might contribute to the formation of splinter groups and intra-movement rivals. At Carleton, she teaches the introductory class in comparative politics as well as courses on social movements, comparative nationalism, ethnic conflict, secession movements, and global populism.

Off Campus Study Politics & Public Policy in Washington, D.C.

Office Hours: T/Th 1:15-2:45pm and W 1-2

Fall ’24 Course:

• POSC 230-00 Methods of Political Research, Weitz 235, T/Th 18:15AM-10:00AM – Syllabus

Greg Marfleet completed his PhD at Arizona State University in international relations and comparative politics. His dissertation was entitled “Taking Risks for War and Peace: Groups, Leaders and Crisis Behavior.” His work has appeared in Political Psychology, Foreign Policy Analysis and the Journal of Political Science Education. His courses include International Relations & World Politics, Methods of Political Research, Complexity in Politics, and American Foreign Policy.

Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 12-2PM (in-person), Tuesdays 1-2PM, or by appt.

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 120-00 Democracy & Dictatorship, Hasenstab 105, M/W 8:30AM-9:40AM, F 8:30AM-9:30AM – Syllabus
• POSC 221-00 Latin American Politics, Hasenstab 105, M/W 12:30PM-1:40PM, F 1:10PM-2:10PM – Syllabus
• POSC 232-01 Political Science Lab: Political Research in Spanish (2nd 5 Weeks), Hasenstab 105, M/W 3:10PM-4:20PM, F 3:30PM-4:30PM – Syllabus

Professor Montero received his PhD in 1997 from Columbia University. He is the Senior Editor of Latin American Politics and Society, a leading, refereed journal in its field. Prof. Montero’s current research program focuses upon trajectories of polarization and populism in South America. He teaches courses on comparative and international political economy, public policy, Latin American and West European politics, comparative democratization and democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, corruption, and global public health. He is the author of several books, including Brazil: Reversal of Fortune (Polity Press, 2014), Brazilian Politics: Reforming a Democratic State in a Changing World (Polity Press, 2006), and Shifting States in Global Markets: Subnational Industrial Policy in Contemporary Brazil and Spain (Penn State Press, 2002). He is co-editor with David Samuels of Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America (University of Notre Dame, 2004). Prof. Montero has published articles in various peer-reviewed journals such as Comparative Politics, the Journal of Politics in Latin America, West European Politics, the Journal of Development Studies, Latin American Research Review, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Latin American Politics and Society. His current project on polarized populism in South America is the focus of a new book manuscript.

Off-Campus Study Political Economy and Ecology in Southeast Asia | Winter 2025

Office Hours: T/Th, 12pm-1pm, and by appointment

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 170-00 International Relations & World Politics, Hasenstab 002, M/W 9:50AMAM-11:00AM, F 9:40AM-10:40AM – Syllabus
• POSC 245-00 Geopolitics of Southeast Asia, Hasenstab 002, M/W 1:50PM-3:00PM, F 2:20PM-3:20PM – Syllabus

Tun Myint earned his PhD in 2005 from the joint program of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the School of Law at Indiana University, Bloomington. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at The Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at IU, teaching and engaging in research on democracy and environmental governance with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. His research examines the role of individuals and groups in the dynamic relationship between social changes and global environmental changes with the focus on democracy, development, globalization, and sustainability.  His publications have appeared in Ecology & Society, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Legal Issues in Burma Journal, and Perspectives on Politics.  He is the author of Governing International Rivers: Polycentric Politics in the Mekong and the Rhine.  Professor Myint served as a member of the Technical Advisory Team of the Federal Constitution Drafting Coordinating Committee of the Union of Burma, and was previously Research Fellow of Asia Policy Program, a joint program of the National Bureau of Research and Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. Prof. Myint teaches Comparative Political Regimes, Southeast Asian Politics, International Relations & World Politics, International Environmental Politics & Policy, Approaches to Development, International Institutions, and Global Social Changes & Sustainability. Tun Myint’s web page

Office Hours: T/Th 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Wednesdays by appointment 10:30 am – 1:00 pm, Hasenstab 202

Minneapolis native Jon Olson graduated from Annapolis in May of 1990 with a BS in
History. He served as a naval intelligence officer, retiring in March of 2011 at the rank of
commander. His assignments during his 21-year career included duty aboard aircraft
carriers and large deck amphibious ships, participation in numerous operations around
the world, to include Iraq, Somalia, Panama, Bosnia, East Timor, and Afghanistan, and
service in the U.S. Navy in strategic-level clandestine Human Intelligence (HUMINT)
collection operations as a CIA-trained case officer. His final duty assignment was as US
Naval Attaché at the US Embassy in Helsinki, Finland.
Jon earned a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies at the U.S. Naval
War College in 2004, and in August of 2018, he completed a Master of Public Affairs
degree at the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. Today, Jon often serves
as a visiting lecturer, teaching national security courses in Carleton College’s
Department of Political Science. Jon co-authors national security thrillers with his fellow
Annapolis graduate, David Bruns. Their work can be found at www.davidbruns.com.
On KYMN Radio in Northfield, MN, Jon hosts National Security This Week every
Wednesday morning at 9AM. He also often serves as a co-host for the radio show
Public Policy This Week, also on KYMN Radio on Fridays at 10AM.

Off-campus Winter ’25

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-2 pm, and by appointment

Fall ’24 Courses:

• POSC 271-00 Constitutional Law I, Hasenstab 002, M/W 11:10 AM-12:20PM, F 12:00PM-1:00PM – Syllabus
• POSC 313-00 Legal Issues in Higher Education, Hasenstab 109, T/Th 3:10PM-4:55PM – Syllabus

Steven G. Poskanzer is a scholar of higher education law, whose research focuses on issues of academic freedom and how colleges and universities seek to achieve educational goals in a complex legal and policy environment.  He holds an AB degree from Princeton University and a JD from Harvard University.  He served as the 11th President of Carleton from 2010 to 2021.  Before coming to Carleton, he held a variety of administrative and academic positions at both private and public universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the State University of New York (SUNY) System Administration, and SUNY New Paltz (where he served as President from 2001 to 2010).  He teaches courses on Legal Issues in Higher Education and Constitutional Law.

Professor Keiser received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989. His research focuses on progressive politics in America’s big cities. In 1997 he published Subordination or Empowerment? which analyzed the formation and disintegration of coalitions that advance African-American political empowerment. He coedited Minority Politics at the Millennium, which was published in 2000. In 2006 he was a Visiting Professor in the Denmark International Study program (DIS) in Copenhagen.  His current research examines the electoral and sociological significance of suburbanization in the United States, the synchronous development of gated communities and slums across the capitalist world, progressive and regressive urban economic development strategies, and the institutions of direct democracy in the US and Europe.  Recent publications have focused on sports stadium-led downtown development and both city and state-level opposition to this strategy.  Prof. Keiser teaches the introductory course on liberty and equality in America, as well as courses on the international political economy of cities, the political economy of global tourism, and public policy courses on the American education and health care systems. Prof. Keiser’s web page

Professor Schier completed his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His interests are primarily in American politics, including interest groups, elections, Congress, the presidency, and political parties. He is the author of several books, including: By Invitation Only: The Rise of Exclusive Politics in the United States (2000), You Call This an Election? America’s Peculiar Democracy (2003), and Panorama of a Presidency: How George W. Bush Acquired and Spent his Political Capital (2009). He edited The Postmodern Presidency: Bill Clinton’s Legacy in American Politics (2000), High Risk and Big Ambition: The Early Presidency of George W. Bush (2004), Transforming America: Barack Obama in the White House (2011), and coedited of The American Elections of 2008 (2009), American Government and Popular Discontent: Stability Without Success (2012) coauthored with Todd Eberly, and The American Elections of 2012, edited by Janet Box-Steffensmeier and Steven E. Schier. Professor Schier has been appointed a Fulbright Distinguished Professor of American Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden for January-June 2014. He can sometimes be heard on the air as political analyst for KSTP television in Minneapolis. He teaches courses in American politics and methodology. Prof. Schier’s Retirement Event/Send your memories   Prof. Schier’s Web page

Professor Smith earned her PhD at the University of Michigan and her law degree at the Boalt School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. She teaches courses in constitutional law, the judicial process, American political thought, political theory, and environmental politics and policy. Her first book, The Dominion of Voice: Riot, Reason and Romance in Antebellum Politics (University Press of Kansas, 1999) was awarded the 2001 Merle Curti Intellectual History Award by the Organization of American Historians.  African American Environmental Thought: Foundations, published by University Press of Kansas in Spring 2007, and named “Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice Magazine in 2008.   Her other titles include Wendell Berry and the Agrarian Tradition: A Common Grace (University Press of Kansas, 2003), Governing Animals: Animal Welfare and the Liberal State (Oxford University Press, 2012), and articles published in the Journal of Political Philosophy, Women’s Studies, Environmental Values, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics and Environmental Ethics, and the Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment.

Professor Vig retired in 2003 after teaching at Carleton for 37 years. He returned for winter and spring of 2005-06 to teach “International Environmental Politics and Policy” and “Comparative Political Regimes.” He received his PhD in public law and government from Columbia University. His primary training is in comparative politics (especially European). Most of his work in recent years has been on environmental policy and law and on the relationships between technology and government. He has published twenty books, including the 11th edition of Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century, which includes a chapter written by Kimberly Smith (2021).