Tanisha Fazal Named Distinguished McKnight Professor
Congratulations to Professor Tanisha Fazal on being named a 2025 Distinguished McKnight Professor! The Distinguished McKnight University Professorship recognizes outstanding faculty members who have made significant advances in their careers while at the University of Minnesota and have recently achieved full professor status. Recipients are selected on the basis of merit, research, accomplishments, leadership activities, as well as other factors. This program is administered by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.
Research: Then and Now
During her teenage years, Tanisha and her father would spend their evenings discussing international relations, from the personal to the political. She was introduced to the academic field of international relations during her undergraduate studies. In the summer following her sophomore year, she worked as a research assistant, tasked with locating and identifying international institutions in the nineteenth-century Middle East and North Africa. Participating directly in research "hooked" her on this type of scholarship. She credits outstanding women mentors for inspiring her to pursue a career as a scholar and professor of political science.
For much of her career, Tanisha's research has focused on issues around mitigating the human costs of war, from questions of territorial conquest to international humanitarian law to medical care in conflict zones. No matter what topic she is exploring, she has to be able to answer the question "so what?" when taking on a new research project. It is critical that not only she cares about the project, but that it matters for people's lives and ties back to the real world. Her current research explores the ways climate change is challenging the building blocks of international relations.
In addition to her new research on climate change, Tanisha has also developed undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on the global politics of climate change. She finds this work exciting and challenging because "there's a lot of climate science to learn and, unlike a lot of other topics political scientists study, we know the past won't be prologue." Due to the uncertain future of climate change, questions around migration, climate reparations, and technological developments require the use of a more ethical lens.
Take a Class with Professor Fazal
This fall 2025 semester course considers various international aspects central to the causes and consequences of, and possible solutions to, the climate crisis. It explores the the key concepts, actors, debates, and issues around the climate crisis.
A Genuine Love
Although there have been some bumpy times throughout her career, Tanisha says that she "genuinely love[s her] job, and feel[s] privileged to be able to teach great students, conduct research [she] care[s] about, and engage the public on key policy questions."
She is most proud, however, of her students, who always impress her with their dedication, intellectual curiosity, desire to improve the world, and ability to grow over the course of their studies.
"I'm truly grateful to have been named a McKnight Professor," she said. "It's a vote of confidence in my work from my colleagues and the University, and it will enable me to push forward research and teaching on climate change."
