Faculty
Gordon Arlen
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
Political Science
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Osman Balkan
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
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Ben Berger
Associate Professor of Political Science
Executive Director, Lang Center
Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
Political Science
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Sam Handlin
Associate Professor of Political Science
Latin American & Latino Studies
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Ayse Kaya
Professor of Political Science
Program Coordinator for Global Studies
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Keith Reeves
Professor of Political Science
Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
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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.
Susanne Schwarz
Assistant Professor of Political Science
On Leave Fall 2022
Political Science
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Heather Swadley
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
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Dominic Tierney
Professor of Political Science
Department Chair
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Dominic Tierney is a professor of political science, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and an official correspondent at The Atlantic.
Tyrene White
Professor of Political Science
On Leave Fall 2022
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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.
Ella Foster-Molina
Social Sciences Quantitative Laboratory Associate
Sociology & Anthropology, Political Science, Economics
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Staff
Christina Ruzzo
Administrative Coordinator
Political Science
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Emeritus Faculty
Cynthia Halpern
Professor Emerita of Political Science
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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.
Ray Hopkins
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
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Raymond Hopkins taught at Swarthmore College beginning in 1967. His teaching areas were international politics, African politics and food policy and recent research has been on global food issues and political economy.
Carol Nackenoff
Richter Professor Emerita of Political Science
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Carol Nackenoff is Richter Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where she taught American Politics, Constitutional Law, Environmental Politics, and Political Theory.
David Smith
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Political Science
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Rick Valelly
Claude C. Smith, Class of 1914, Professor Emeritus of Political Science
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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.
