Skip to main content

Faculty & Staff

Faculty

Gordon Arlen

Visiting Assistant Professor

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 690-5680
  2. Office Hours:

    Tuesday Noon-1:00 p.m.

    Wednesday 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Ben Berger

Associate Professor

Executive Director, Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility

Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-7795
  2. Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility 212
  3. Trotter Hall 306
  4. Office Hours:

    https://swarthmore.zoom.us/my/profbenberger

Benjamin Berger

Sam Handlin ’00

(he-him-his-himself)

Associate Professor

Program Coordinator, Latin American & Latinx Studies

Political Science

Latin American & Latino Studies

Contact

  1. Trotter Hall 313
  2. Office Hours:

    Wednesday 10am-12pm

Ayse Kaya

Professor

Program Coordinator, Global Studies

On Leave - Academic Year

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8471
  2. Trotter Hall 311

Firat Kimya

Visiting Assistant Professor

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 690-5010
  2. Trotter Hall 312
  3. Office Hours:

    Wednesdays 11AM-1PM

Firat Kimya

Keith Reeves ’88

Professor

Political Science

Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 690-6862
  2. Trotter Hall 310
  3. Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility 210
  4. Office Hours:

    Monday 4:45-6pm, Thursday 2:00-3:30 or by appointment

A 1988 graduate of Swarthmore who majored in political science with the concentration in Black Studies and public policy and who attended Exeter College at Oxford University, England, Reeves teaches courses across the arenas of American government, electoral politics, and public opinion; racial politics and voting rights policy; the urban underclass, poverty, and public policy; and behavioral research methods.

Emily Paddon Rhoads

Associate Professor

Political Science

Peace & Conflict Studies

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8689
  2. Trotter Hall 305
  3. Office Hours:

    Tuesday 1-2:30pm

    Wednesday 3:30-4:30pm

    Must sign up through Google Booking Page

Emily Paddon Rhoads

Susanne Schwarz

Assistant Professor

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8099
  2. Trotter Hall 304
  3. Office Hours:

    Tuesdays, 12-1:30pm (Sign-up necessary through Google Booking Page)

Warren Snead

Assistant Professor

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8126
  2. Office Hours:

    Wednesdsays 10:30am-12:30pm

Warren Snead

Jonny Thakkar

Assistant Professor

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 690-6813
  2. Office Hours:

    Wednesday/Thursday 4-5:30pm

    Sign up for a slot on Google Booking Page

Dominic Tierney

Professor

Department Chair, Political Science

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8097
  2. Trotter Hall 318
  3. Office Hours:

    Tuesday/Thursday 4:15-5:15pm

Dominic Tierney is a professor of political science, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and an official correspondent at The Atlantic.

Dominic Tierney

Tyrene White

Richter Professor of Political Science

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8138
  2. Trotter Hall 307
  3. Office Hours:

    Tuesday/Thursday 2:45-4:15pm or by appointment

    Online Office Hours: https://swarthmore.zoom.us/j/463122253

Tyrene White's current research is on the local political influence of Chinese NGO's and on the use of litigation to improve the status of Chinese women. She teaches courses on contemporary China, East Asia, and population issues, and introductory courses in comparative politics.

Tyrene White

Ella Foster-Molina ’07

Social Science Quantitative Laboratory Associate

Economics

Political Science

Sociology & Anthropology

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 957-6384
  2. Kohlberg Hall 241
  3. Office Hours:

    Kohlberg 241 (on the Soc/Anth side of Kohlberg 2nd)

    Wednesdays 1:15-3:45pm

    Thursdays 11:45am-1:45pm

    Appointments preferred, walk-ins welcome. Email me if you need to meet by Zoom instead of in person.

Staff

Christina Dahl

Administrative Coordinator, Political Science; Administrative Support, Political Science

Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8127
  2. Trotter Hall 308
  3. Office Hours:

    Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-4:30pm

    Friday: Remote

Emeritus Faculty

Cynthia Halpern

Professor Emerita

Emeritus Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8689

Cynthia Halpern taught Ancient Political Theory, Modern Political Theory, Ethics and Public Policy, and courses in Interpretation Theory on terror, violence, and technology/media. She specializes in Nietzsche, Foucault, Ricoeur and Levinas, among other theorists.

Cynthia Halpern

James Kurth

Professor Emeritus

Emeritus Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8127
James Kurth

Carol Nackenoff

The Richter Professor Emerita of Political Science

Emeritus Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8127

Carol Nackenoff is Richter Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where she taught American Politics, Constitutional Law, Environmental Politics, and Political Theory. 

Carol Nackenoff

Kenneth Sharpe

William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus

Emeritus Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8127
Kenneth Sharpe

Rick Valelly

Claude Smith Chair Emeritus of Political Science

Emeritus Political Science

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8127

Rick Valelly taught the introduction to American politics every fall and an honors seminar on national politics every spring, as well as courses on Congress, elections, and public policy.  He is an alumnus of the College (1975), received his Ph.D. from Harvard University (1984) and has taught here since 1993, after teaching for 8 years at MIT.

Richard Valelly