UMass Boston

Faculty Emeriti

Tom Ferguson, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts

Diane Paul, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts

Department Staff

Linda Uch, Administrative Assistant II, Department of Political Science

Department Chair & Program Directors

Paul Kowert
Chair of the Political Science Department
paul.kowert@umb.edu 

Heike Schotten
Associate Chair and Director of the Political Science Major
heike.schottten@umb.edu

Luis Jiménez
Director of the IR Major
luis.jimenez@umb.edu

Erin O'Brien
Director of the Public Policy Minor
erin.obrien@umb.edu

Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

Joseph M. Brown, Associate Professor 
Expertise: International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies, Non-State Actors, Signaling, Research Methods

Ethan Boldt, Assistant Professor
Expertise: American politics, Law and the Courts

Leila Farsakh, Associate Professor
Expertise: Middle East Politics, Comparative Politics, Politics of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Jose Gomez, Assistant Professor
Expertise:

Andrés Fabián Henao Castro, Associate Professor
Expertise: Ancient and contemporary political theory, decolonial theory, critical theory, feminist theory, psychoanalysis, critical philosophy of race, poststructuralism, settler colonial critique

Luis F. Jiménez, Associate Professor and Director of International Relations Major
Expertise: Latin American politics, Mexican politics, immigration politics, Latino politics

Shuai Jin, Associate Professor
Expertise: Comparative Politics, Economic Inequality and Redistribution, Chinese Politics, Public Opinion, Quantitative Methods

Travis Johnston, Assistant Professor
Expertise: American Politics, Legislative Institutions, Policy Policy, Political Behavior, and Research Methods

Paul Kowert, Chair and Associate Professor
Expertise: International relations theory, U.S.-Japan relations, foreign policy analysis, political psychology, research design

Erin O’Brien, Professor and Director of Public Policy Minor
Expertise: Public Policy; Politics of Poverty and U.S. Social Welfare Policy; Stratification, Politics, and Policy; Political Behavior; Urban Politics; Research Methods and Epistemology; American Politics

C. Heike Schotten, Professor, Director of Political Science Major, and Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Expertise: Political theory: ancient, modern, and contemporary political thought; Nietzsche studies Critical theory: queer theory and politics, biopolitics, feminist political theory, feminist and gender theory, radical/revolutionary political theory, Islamophobia and the War on Terror

Paul Watanabe, Professor and Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies
Expertise: American Foreign Policy, American Political Behavior, Ethnic Group Politics, and Asian Americans

Lecturers and Visitors

Caroline Coscia, Senior Lecturer II

Jerome Klassen, Lecturer 
Expertise: International relations, political economy, U.S. grand strategy, Canadian foreign policy, development economics, corporate network analysis, social movements

Ursula Tafe, Senior Lecturer II
Expertise: International Organization, Democratic Peace Theory

Faculty Emeriti

Elizabeth Bussiere, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts
Expertise: American politics, Law and the Courts, Welfare Policy, and The Jury System

Tom Ferguson, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts 

Diane Paul, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts