Faculty
Our faculty are dedicated to the creation and transmission of knowledge about politics and political science. The department promotes original research, creative teaching, and public service in and outside the discipline of political science.
We value distinguished disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, teaching, advising, publicly engaged scholarship, and civic education that disseminate knowledge and skills about politics and political science to widely diverse audiences.
The Department of Political Science draws upon visiting lecturers, scholars, and professors who bring their expertise in many areas of study. Graduate students come from all over the world and occupy a unique position as both students and graduate assistants/instructors who bring their diverse research interests to their teaching. Staff members with many years of experience provide professional support to faculty and students and offer unique research and internship opportunities. Together faculty, graduate students, and staff are dedicated to providing students with the support they need to learn and excel in today’s political world.
Core Faculty
| Name | Contact | Office | Specialties | Office Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Bell |
612-626-2889 |
1378 Social Sciences Building | International security, nuclear weapons, U.S. foreign policy | W 12:00-2:00pm; virtual |
| Anuja Bose | [email protected] | 1354 Social Sciences Building | Black political thought, anti-colonial and anti-imperial thought, critical race and feminist theory, modern and contemporary political theory | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| Teri Caraway |
612-624-3839 |
1311 Social Sciences Building | Comparative political economy of labor, Southeast Asian politics, transnational labor issues, gender and comparative politics | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| Kathleen Collins |
612-626-7489 |
1224 Social Sciences Building | Islam and politics, soviet and post-soviet political development, Central Asia and the Caucus, democratization and political transition | By appointment only; in-person or virtual |
| Arash Davari |
612-624-4003 |
1211 Social Sciences Building | Modern and contemporary political theory; anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and postcolonial political theory; revolution; politics and culture of the modern Middle East; race, ethnicity, and politics | T 4:00-6:00pm or by appointment; in-person or virtual |
| Tanisha Fazal Director of Undergraduate Studies |
612-624-8261 |
1333 Social Sciences Building | Sovereignty, international security, armed conflict, military medicine, laws of war | W 1:00-2:15pm; in-person or virtual |
| Christopher Federico Associate Chair |
612-625-7217 |
1435 Social Sciences Building | Political psychology, race and politics, quantitative methods, ideology and belief systems | F 1:30-3:00; virtual |
| Paul Goren |
612-624-7513 |
1339 Social Sciences Building | Political psychology, voting behavior, public opinion | M W 9:30-10:30am or by appointment; in-person or virtual |
| Lisa Hilbink |
612-626-8857 |
1373 Social Sciences Building | Comparative judicial politics and constitutionalism, Latin American and Iberian politics, democratization | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| James Hollyer Director of Graduate Studies |
[email protected] | 1246A Social Sciences Building | Patronage, corruption, transparency, methodology, comparative and international political economy | M 3:00-5:00pm; in-person or virtual |
| Timothy R. Johnson | [email protected] | 1433 Social Sciences Building | Supreme Court oral arguments, decision making, and nominations and confirmations; executive/judiciary relations; U.S. politics | By appointment only; in-person or virtual |
| Andrew Karch |
612-624-6018 |
1246B Social Sciences Building | Social policy in the United States, federalism and state politics | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| Helen M Kinsella |
612-625-2777 |
1325 Social Sciences Building | International relations, law, security, norms, and institutions; political thought; feminist theory | By appointment only; in-person or virtual |
| Ronald Krebs |
612-624-4356 |
1233 Social Sciences Building | International relations theory, international security, counterterrorism, language and politics, sociology of war | 9:00-11:00am; in-person or virtual |
| Howard Lavine |
612-624-9876 |
1360 Social Sciences Building | Political psychology, partisanship, personality and politics | F 1:00-3:00pm; in-person or virtual |
| Kevin Luo |
612-626-3308 |
1209 Social Sciences Building | Chinese politics, East Asian politics, state building, authoritarian politics and democratization, politics of development, comparative historical analysis | W 10:00am - 12:00pm or by appointment; in-person |
| Nancy Luxon |
612-625-7982 |
1350 Social Sciences Building | Contemporary political and social theory, French political thought | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| Michael Minta Department Chair |
612-626-5632 |
1414A Social Sciences Building | Congressional politics, race and ethnic politics, interest group advocacy | Th 11:00am - 12:00pm or by appointment; in-person |
| C. Daniel Myers |
612-626-0908 |
1309 Social Sciences Building | American politics, political psychology, political communication, experimental methods, deliberative democracy | T 11:00am - 1:00pm, W 12:30-1:30pm; in-person or virtual |
| August Nimtz |
612-624-1512 |
1327 Social Sciences Building | Marxism; political economy; politics of race, class and ethnicity; African politics; political development | T 5:15-6:15pm; in-person |
| Tricia Olsen |
612-626-0213 |
1468 Social Sciences Building | Democracy, human rights, international development, sustainable development, Latin America, private enterprise | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| Kathryn Pearson | [email protected] | 1439 Social Sciences Building | U.S. Congress, women and politics, congressional elections and political behavior | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| Gretchen Ritter | [email protected] | 234 Morrill Hall | Women's constitutional rights and democracy and citizenship in American politics | Not teaching spring 2026 |
| David J. Samuels | [email protected] | 1446 Social Sciences Building | Brazilian and Latin American politics, U.S.-Latin American relations, democratization | M W 11:00am - 12:30pm; in-person |
| Anoop Sarbahi |
612-624-5847 |
1466 Social Sciences Building | Ethnicity, civil war, post-conflict transition, counter-insurgency | T Th 12:30-1:30pm; in-person |
| Anurag Sinha |
612-624-7352 |
1460 Social Sciences Building | Empire and colonization, history of political economy, postcolonial political theory, politics and history of modern South Asia | Not teaching spring 2026 |
|
Director of Internships |
612-626-1002 |
1480 Social Sciences Building | American political thought, state government | W F 11:00am - 12:00pm; in-person |
| Jane Sumner | [email protected] | 1331 Social Sciences Building | American political economy, international political economy, business and politics, applied methods | M 11:30am - 1:00pm or by appointment; in-person by default, virtual by request |
Affiliated Faculty & Department Members
| Name | Contact | Office | Office Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eugene Borgida |
612-625-3381 |
N387 Elliot Hall | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Christina Ewig |
612-625-1884 |
255 Humphrey School of Public Affairs | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Catherine Guisan |
612-624-2569 |
1282 Social Sciences Building | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Lawrence Jacobs |
612-625-3384 |
137 Humphrey School of Public Affairs | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Kati Mohammad-Zadeh |
612-625-3818 |
1375 Social Sciences Building | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Fionnuala Ni Aolain |
612-624-2318 |
334 Mondale Hall | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Francis Shen |
612-626-2847 |
446 Mondale Hall | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Erich Sommerfeldt | [email protected] | 253 Ford Hall | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Joe Soss |
612-626-9865 |
261 Humphrey School of Public Affairs | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Benjamin Toff |
612-625-4381 |
227 Murphy Hall | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
| Josef Woldense |
612-624-0122 |
878 Social Sciences Building | Not teaching POL spring 2026 |
Emeriti Faculty
| Name | Contact | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Abernathy |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Raymond Duvall |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| John Freeman |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Edwin Fogelman |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Virginia Gray | 612-624-4395 | 1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Daniel Kelliher |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Wendy Rahn |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Martin Sampson |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Thomas Scott |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| W. Phillips Shively |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Kathryn Sikkink |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| John Sullivan |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
| Joan Tronto |
612-624-4395 |
1280 Social Sciences Building |
Lecturers
| Name | Contact | Office | Office Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua Anderson |
612-624-2889 |
1427 Social Sciences Building | T 2:00-3:00pm; virtual |
| Timothy Collins |
612-624-2389 |
1431 Social Sciences Building | M W 12:00-1:00pm; in-person or virtual |
| Adam Lê | [email protected] | 1472 Social Sciences Building | T 12:00-2:00pm; in-person or virtual |
| Florencia Montal |
612-624-8517 |
1373 Social Sciences Building | Th 1:00-2:00pm, in-person or virtual |
Teaching Assistants
| Course | Teaching Assistant | Office Hours |
|---|---|---|
| POL 1025 | Vincent Doehr | Th 2:00-3:00pm; virtual |
| POL 1054 | Jesse Stricklan | T Th 1:00-2:00pm or by appointment; in-person or virtual |
| POL 1201 | Seulah Lee | W 1:50-2:30pm or by appointment; in-person or virtual |
| POL 3085 | Taylor Hvidsten | M 1:00-3:00; in-person |
| POL 3235W | Katelyn Shepardson | Th 12:00-2:0pm; in-person |
| POL 3251W | Allison Cohen | Th 1:00-3:00pm or by appointment; in-person or virtual |
| POL 3306 | Alex Zhuravel | T 12:00-2:00pm; virtual |
| POL 3309 | Larissa de Mello Beckman | By appointment only; in-person or virtual |
| POL 3423 | Erik Mueller | W 2:00-3:00pm; virtual |
| POL 3737 | Sarah Musgrave | M 12:30-2:30pm or by appointment |
| POL 3766 | Brianna Kreft | M 11:00am - 1:00pm; in-person or virtual |
| POL 3835 | Namarig Kram | Th 2:30-4:30pm; virtual |
| POL 3841 | Jong Hyun Lee | T 2:00-4:00pm, in-person or virtual |
| POL 4502W | Grace Hertzog | T 10:00am - 12:00pm; virtual |
| POL 4881W | Deniz Kaptan | T 3:50-4:50pm; virtual |
| POL 4891 | Ricardo Jasso Huezo | T 4:00-6:00pm; virtual |
| POL 4991 | Nick Campos | Th 11:00am - 12:30pm; in-person |
| POL 4991 | Ibrahim Chiu | By appointment only; in-person or virtual |