J. Michael Williams, J.D., PhD, is an alumnus of the University of San Diego (1992) and has been a member of the faculty since 1999.  He currently serves as the chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations. Williams offers undergraduate courses on introduction to political science, comparative politics, politics in sub-Saharan Africa, and politics in South Africa. His research focuses on African politics, with special interests in democratization, indigenous political structures, local governance, rule of law, the courts and constitutionalism.  He has published numerous articles and one book on the chieftaincy in South Africa - Chieftaincy, the State, and Democracy: Political Legitimacy in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Indiana University Press, 2010).

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Delavan Dickson, PhD, has taught at USD since 1987 in the department of Political Science and International Relations.  He teaches Introduction to Political Science and a variety of upper division law courses, including Constitutional Law, Judicial Behavior, Comparative Law, and International Law.  His research focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court, justice in common law countries, lay justice, and the relationship between law and democracy.

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Casey B. K. Dominguez, PhD, joined the USD Political Science faculty in 2005. Her research interests include congressional elections, political parties, campaign finance, and the presidency. She teaches upper and lower division classes on American Politics, as well as an upper division class on research methods.

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Dr. Drinan joined the USD faculty in 1981.  He has served as chair of the Department from 1981-1989 and also as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1989-2006.  He currently is on phased retirement and teaches only in Fall semesters, usually a class in international relations.  His most recent research and publications have been on public policy issues in higher education, especially management of academic integrity issues.  Dr. Drinan  has received a lifetime achievement award from the international Center for Academic Integrity for his work on academic integrity.

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Emily Edmonds-Poli , PhD, joined the USD faculty in 2001. She currently serves as the director of the MA program in International Relations. Edmonds-Poli teaches classes on international relations and Latin American politics. Her research focuses on local and state level politics in Mexico, as well as decentralization and democratization in Latin America.

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Virginia Lewis, PhD, has been a faculty member at USD since 1980. She has been deeply involved in university governance, and has made student learning her mission. From directing the Oxford program for ten years and serving as faculty advisor to student groups, to teaching courses in her research areas,  Lewis sees the university as a student-centric community. She has been chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Assembly, and a member of the University Senate.

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Vidya Nadkarni, PhD,  joined USD’s faculty in 1990. Nadkarni teaches courses in the area of international relations and foreign policy.  Her research interests center on the foreign policies of resurgent (Russia) and aspiring (China, India) global powers. 

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Noelle Norton, PhD, joined the USD faculty in 1994. She is currently serving as an Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences while maintaining her faculty role in the department.  She most recently served as chair of the department and formerly served as the USD Honors Program director from 2001-2008. She teaches classes on American politics, legislative politics, urban politics, and gender politics. Norton’s most recent publications have been on welfare policy, the White House Office of the President, and the institutional position of women legislators. She is very excited to extend her work into international issues with her current research project about congressional handling of international women’s rights legislation between 1990 and 2010.

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Lee Ann Otto, PhD, has been a member of the faculty since 1984. She is a professor in the department of Political Science and International Relations and has served as the associate dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies since its inauguration in 2007. Otto is also the director of USD’s Masters Program in Peace and Justice Studies. She teaches courses on Chinese politics, Japanese politics, revolutionary change, and the law of the sea at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research focuses on Chinese policies relating to the war on terror and their impact on Uyghurs and other minority groups within China. She is a former recipient of USD’s University Professorship award.

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Michael R. Pfau, PhD, has been at USD since 1989. He teaches Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations and occasionally seminars on Politics in (his native) Germany. His research focuses on cross-national public opinion formation, specifically, on how US (foreign) policy is perceived by publics abroad. On that issue, he consults with a variety of political and corporate interests. He has chaired the department and has won the American Political Science Association’s teaching award.

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David A. Shirk, PhD,  joined the University of San Diego in July 2003. Shirk’s teaching covers a wide range of subject areas, mainly concentrated in comparative politics, international political economy, Latin American studies, and U.S.-Latin American relations, with a concentration in Mexico and border politics. He conducts research on Mexican politics, U.S.-Mexican relations, and law enforcement and security along the U.S.-Mexican border. Shirk also directs the Trans-Border Institute, which works to promote greater analysis and understanding of Mexico, U.S.-Mexico relations, and the U.S.-Mexico border region.

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Avi Spiegel specializes in Middle Eastern and North African politics. He earned a doctorate from Oxford University, a master’s degree from Harvard University and a law degree from NYU. He has been a Fellow at the Brookings Institution, the Ali Pachachi Scholar of the Modern Middle East at Oxford, a Frederick Sheldon Fellow at Harvard, and a Fulbright Scholar and Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. He has contributed to Foreign Policy and Huffington Post and has also appeared, on television, as a Middle East Analyst for Al Jazeera English. His writing has also been published in, among others, the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, and The American Interest. Spiegel is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of San Diego and a Fellow at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently completing a book on the remarkable rise of young Arab Islamists.

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Randy Willoughby, Ph.D, has been on the USD faculty since 1988 and teaches course on comparative politics and international security. His undergraduate education began at the University of California at Irvine and concluded at UCLA. His graduate education was at the University of California at Berkeley, preceded by a year of study in Paris, and including a year working in the Executive Office of the President in Washington DC, a year teaching at the University of Santa Clara, and two years participating on a research project at the University of California at San Diego.

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