Department of Politics
Department of Politics

Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

One of the core strengths of the Department of Politics is the commitment by a wide range of faculty to research and teaching with a focus on race, ethnicity, and gender, and their interconnections. The research group on race, ethnicity, and gender (REG) promotes scholarship, sponsors workshops, coordinates graduate and undergraduate course offerings, and works to attract and retain students who wish to study questions relevant to race, ethnicity, and gender. Our group includes faculty and graduate students from a wide range of backgrounds and areas within the discipline of political science, including scholars who focus on American politics, comparative politics, and political theory.  Note that Race, Ethnicity, and Gender is not a formal subfield in the graduate program.

To foster the “mainstreaming” of REG work, we co-sponsor talks in the Politics Department’s disciplinary speaker series. In addition, we sponsor additional small-group meetings by speakers with graduate and/or undergradaute students, and support bringing visitors to Grounds for graduate and undergraduate courses.

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GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH WORKSHOP

February 25, 2022
11am–1:30pm
Gibson Hall 296

5pm–7pm: Reception at Kardinal Hall

After a 2-year COVID hiatus, we are excited to sponsor an in-person workshop of graduate student research, designed to foster conversations among faculty and graduate students across traditional subfields. This year's conference will inclue four 30-minute sessions focusing on work by:

  • 11am-11:30am: Layla Picard, "Refuge, Regeneration, Reemergence: A New Framework for Militant Subaltern Politics" 
  • 11:40am-12:10pm: Hayley Elszasz, "Climate Politics in the Flooding City: Grassroots Environmental Activism in the South Bay"
  • 12:20pm-12:50pm: Jean-Marc Pruit, "Black Atlantic Republicanism: The Plantation and the Limits of Republican Political Thought"
  • 1:00pm-1:30pm: Rachel Smilan-Goldstein, "Carceral Feminism and the Political Psychology of Women’s Police Reform Attitudes"

We encourage everyone to read the papers in advance, as the sessions will focus on discussion rather than presentations. We will serve lunch. Please contact Lawrie Balfour if you would like a copy of the papers and/or to order lunch (Lunch orders must be in by Monday, February 21 at noon).  We will host a reception at 5pm at Kardinal Hall. Whether or not you are able to attend the workshop, we’d love to see you in person there!

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RECENT COURSES IN REG

We list courses with a primary focus or that devote significant attention to race, ethnicity, gender, and/or sexuality.

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Undergraduate Courses

  • Women, Men, and U.S. Politics, PLAP 3500, Jennifer Lawless
  • PLAP 3270, Public Opinion & American Democracy, Nicholas Winter
  • Europe in Crisis, PLIR 3500, Hannah Alarian (Politics Department Post-doctoral Fellow)
  • Campaigns and Elections, PLCP 4500, Rodrigo Castro Cornejo (Politics Department Post-doctoral Fellow)
  • Gender Politics in Comparative Perspective, PLCP 3350/WGS 3500, Denise Walsh
  • Racial Politics, PLAP 3700, regularly taught by Lynn Sanders
  • Comparative Legislatures (includes the study of legislative underrepresentation on the basis of gender, race, and ethnicity), PLCP 4200, Carol Mershon
  • Comparative Political Parties (includes the study of parties making appeals on the basis of race, ethnicity, and/or gender), PLCP 4201, Carol Mershon
  • Politics, Poverty, and Health (with the study of disparities along lines of race, ethnicity, and gender), PLAD 2500, Fall 2016, Carol Mershon
  • Gender and American Political Behavior, PLAP 4140, Nicholas Winter
  • Political Psychology, PLAP 4150, Nicholas Winter
  • The Political Psychology of White Supremacy, PLAP4500, Nicholas Winter
  • African American Political Thought, PLPT 3200, Lawrie Balfour
  • Politics and Literature (with a focus on gender, race, and literature), PLPT 4060, Lawrie Balfour
  • Contemporary Political Thought, PLPT 3030, Jennifer Rubenstein
  • Feminist Political Theory, PLPT 4200, Lawrie Balfour
  • Freedom, Empire & Slavery, PLPT 4500, Lawrie Balfour
  • Slavery – Ancient, Modern, Contemporary, PAVS 4500, Lawrie Balfour
  • Culture and Human Rights, (ethnicity, gender and sexuality) PLCP 4500, Denise Walsh
  • Identity Politics, (race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, nation, religion) PLCP 4500, Denise Walsh
  • Gender Politics in Africa, PLCP 4840 Denise Walsh
  • Inequalities (race, ethnicity), PLCP 4500
  • Politics of Sub Saharan Africa (race, ethnicity), PLCP 4810, Robert Fatton
  • The Political Brain, PLAP 3500, Liya Yu
  • US Immigration Politics, PLAP 4500, Lucila Figueroa
  • Latino Politics, PLAP 4500, Lucila Figueroa
  • Race, Empire, and the Struggle for American Democracy, PLPT 4500, Siddhant Issar
  • Decolonizing Political Theory, PLPT 4500, Véronica Zebadúa-Yáñez
  • The Politics of Women's and LGBTI Rights, PLPT 4500, Véronica Zebadúa-Yáñez
  • Racial Politics, PLPT 4500, Daniel Henry
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Graduate courses

  • Gender and American Politics, PLAP 7500, Jennifer Lawless
  • Racial Politics, PLAP7500, Lynn Sanders
  • Comparative Institutions, PLCP 8200, Carol Mershon
  • Political Psychology, PLAP7500, Nicholas Winter
  • Race, Gender, Power (formerly named “Theorizing Race and Racism” and “American Political Cultures”), PLPT 8500, Lawrie Balfour
  • American Political Cultures, PLPT 8500, Lawrie Balfour
  • Race, Gender, Power, PLPT 8500, Lawrie Balfour
  • Identity and the State, PLCP 7500, Denise Walsh
  • Democratic Theory, Democratic Practice, (gender, ethnicity, multiculturalism) PLCP 7500, co-taught by Jennifer Rubenstein and Denise Walsh
  • Feminist Theory and Feminist Practice, PLCP 8500, co-taught by Lawrie Balfour and Denise Walsh
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INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS 

The REG group works to facilitate intellectual exchange with faculty and students associated with departments and programs across Grounds, including:

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POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS 

The REG Group collaborates with the department to bring to Grounds Postdoctoral Fellows who work in the REG area.  Recent Fellows include:

  • Lucila Figueroa
  • Hannah M. Alarian
  • Verónica Zebadúa-Yáñez
  • Rodrigo Castro Cornejo

Departmental Faculty