Research Interests
comparative politicsinternational relationsLatin Americademocracyequalitydevelopmentgender politicsMexican politics
Opportunities
Work Study Positions Available: No
Grant Funded Positions Available: No
Course-Credit Research Opportunities Available: No
Volunteer Research Positions Available: No
Biography
I joined the International Relations team of the Political Science department West Chester University in 2002. My primary areas of teaching and research specialization are in comparative politics and international relations, with a focus in the region of Latin America, on topics related to democracy, equality, development and gender politics. In the 1980s I traveled to Haiti, Kenya, the former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine and Latvia), and Mexico for short periods, but long enough to observe and formulate questions about poverty, inequalities and how transitions to democracy can occur?! These questions and the myriad of answers continue to drive me as a global citizen and as a political scientist.
In the early 1990s, I worked with a study abroad program in Cuernavaca, Mexico for five years, which led to my specializations on my professional path. From my base for graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh (which has an awesome Latin American Studies program!), I returned to Mexico for two years as a Fulbright Scholar to conduct my dissertation research on women in politics in the dynamic political context of a democratizing nation. As such, much of my work has focused on Mexican politics, and more recently in gender equity policies in Chile.
More recently, in light of the growing Latino and immigrant population in the U.S., my work has shifted to teaching, research, and service about and with Latinos and immigrants in Pennsylvania, and the United States in general. My Latino Politics course and the related conferences I have organized at WCU focus social and policy issues of the Mexican migrant population in southern Chester County and Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia.
On a personal note, I grew up in suburban Philadelphia, am married to a Latin American and have two sons.
