Faculty
![Photo of Gordon Arlen](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/garlen1/Arlen%20Picture%20%28Swarthmore%29.jpg.webp?itok=Iek3Nnfc)
Ben Berger
Associate Professor
Executive Director, Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
Political Science
Contact
Links
![Benjamin Berger](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/bberger1/161020_berger_b_372x466.jpg.webp?itok=KRIXDOZS)
Justin Casey
Visiting Assistant Professor
Political Science
Contact
Links
![Justin Casey](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/jcasey2/jcasey_372x466_v1.jpg.webp?itok=FFuY2Xd2)
Sam Handlin ’00
Associate Professor
Program Coordinator, Latin American & Latinx Studies
Political Science
Latin American & Latino Studies
Contact
Links
![Photo of Sam Handlin](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/shandli1/IMG_2278.JPG.webp?itok=J-DVY6Mh)
Ayse Kaya
Professor
Department Chair, Political Science
Program Coordinator, Global Studies
Political Science
Contact
Links
![Photo of Ayse Kaya](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/akayaor1/PHOTO-2021-11-18-08-40-17.jpg.webp?itok=FbyO-iU4)
Firat Kimya
Visiting Assistant Professor
Political Science
Contact
Links
![Firat Kimya](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/fkimya1/Kimya_1.jpeg.webp?itok=RBATguai)
Keith Reeves ’88
Professor
Political Science
Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
Contact
Links
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.
![Photo of Keith Reeves](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/kreeves1/KR_Photo_Poli_Sci_Website.jpg.webp?itok=79-Xzxxm)
Emily Paddon Rhoads
Associate Professor
On Leave - Academic Year
Political Science
Peace & Conflict Studies
Contact
Links
![Emily Paddon Rhoads](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_photos/erhoads1.jpg.webp?itok=h9Q9WzIv)
Susanne Schwarz
Assistant Professor
Political Science
Contact
Links
![Photo of Susanne Schwarz](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/sschwar3/SusanneSchwarz0918_0005.jpg.webp?itok=BzJKtCxY)
![Warren Snead](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/wsnead1/Snead_Headshot.PNG.webp?itok=iPpEj1Aq)
Dominic Tierney
Claude C. Smith '14 Professor
On Leave - Fall
Political Science
Contact
Links
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](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/dtierne1/130905_tierney_a_372x466.jpg.webp?itok=Hi0uAyib)
Tyrene White
Richter Professor of Political Science
Political Science
Contact
Links
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](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_photos/white_tyrene_110.jpg.webp?itok=mh_62RTD)
Ella Foster-Molina ’07
Social Science Quantitative Laboratory Associate
Economics
Political Science
Sociology & Anthropology
Contact
Links
![Photo of Ella Foster-Molina](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/mfoster1/170825_foster_molina_a_cropped.jpg.webp?itok=MAWAujvq)
Staff
![Photo of Christina Dahl](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/cdahl1/03312023_Christina_Karl_rehearsal_1568.jpg.webp?itok=a-vJNHye)
Emeritus Faculty
Cynthia Halpern
Professor Emerita
Emeritus Political Science
Contact
Links
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](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_photos/halpern_cynthia_110.jpg.webp?itok=EUrx91yk)
![James Kurth](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_profiles/jkurth1/James_Kurth_372x466_1.jpg.webp?itok=fc0WkaSP)
Carol Nackenoff
The Richter Professor Emerita of Political Science
Emeritus Political Science
Contact
Links
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](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_photos/nackenoff_carol_06.jpg.webp?itok=8L8OcXHC)
Kenneth Sharpe
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus
Emeritus Political Science
Contact
Links
![Kenneth Sharpe](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_photos/sharpe_kenneth_110.jpg.webp?itok=x6RXbm1g)
Rick Valelly
Claude Smith Chair Emeritus of Political Science
Emeritus Political Science
Contact
Links
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](/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/assets/images/user_photos/valelly-110.jpg.webp?itok=fjcuez2u)