The faculty and staff of the Department of Politics is made up of a diverse group of instructors with research interests ranging from Media and Congress to Food Politics. As a student, you’ll have access to professors who know your name and are available to help guide you through your academic career at Humboldt State.
Office: FH 140
Office Hours: MR 11am-12:30pm & by appt.
Email: j.mark.baker@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-3907
Graduate Coodinator, Environment and Community Program
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
It is a delight and an honor to teach at Humboldt State University, and to call the beautiful north coast of California my home. Prior to joining Humboldt State University in 2006, I spent eight years doing applied social science research on community forestry and related forms of community-based natural resources management in association with a nonprofit organization, the Sierra Institute for Environment and Community. Previously, I taught environmental policy and management and political ecology in the Environmental Studies Department of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. I completed both my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at UC Berkeley, in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management.
Ever since my days as a graduate student at UC Berkeley, I have been interested in understanding the multi-faceted relationship between community well-being and the environment. I have also sought to advance, through both teaching and research, the idea that community well-being and environmental sustainability are interdependent concepts. I am particularly interested in issues of equity, justice, collective action, community formation, and political authority as they bear upon environment-community relationships. I have pursued these research and teaching interests in both India and North America. Since the early 1980s I have been making regular trips to India, where I have long-standing research interests in community-based irrigation management in the western Himalaya. In North America I am interested in both understanding and advancing community-based approaches to environmental governance and resource management and stewardship that embody community and ecological sustainability. These research interests touch down in northwest California, where I have a sustained interest in understanding and documenting the socioeconomic characteristics and contributions of the north coast’s natural resources and watershed restoration sector.
California’s north coast offers a wonderful array of diverse examples of environment-community relationships – many of which I and my students draw upon in the courses I teach. Whether as subjects for classroom discussion or student research papers, topics such as the Klamath River conflict, dam removal, traditional ecological knowledge, forest policy, water management, watershed restoration – to name just a few – are all locally important and help weave the classroom together with the regional environmental, socio-economic, and political setting of Humboldt State University.
Office: FH 135
Office Hours: On sabbatical until spring 2017
Email: sb82@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-3925
Ph.D., University of Washington
I joined the faculty of Humboldt State University in 2007 after I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Washington. I also hold an M.S. in Political Science from University of Oregon and an M.A. in Women’s Studies and Public Policy from the George Washington University. Before becoming an academic, I worked in Washington, D.C. in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, with a trails and parks advocacy group, and at the Library of Congress. While an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, I interned with the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and I encourage any student who wants to pursue a career in American politics to intern in Washington, D.C.
My experience in the U.S. Congress taught me to value the work that members do, especially as they craft policy responses to major issues. My current research focuses on the communication strategies of Congress and the president. I am also interested in the theory and practice of deliberative democracy, and I have co-authored articles on deliberative processes. In 2001, I worked as part of a project advocating for the establishment of institutionalized citizen deliberation in the Washington State initiative process.
In the Department of Politics at Humboldt State I teach mainly in the “Advocacy and Institutions” emphasis; my courses include President and Congress, Media and Public Opinion, and Public Policy Processes. I’m interested in providing opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in research.
Office: FH 130
Office Hours: R 11:30am-1:30pm & by appt.
Email: Joice.Chang@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-3917
Ph.D., Indiana University
J.D., Ohio State University
I received a joint Ph.D. in public policy and political science from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Prior to joining the faculty at Humboldt State University in 2013, I was a visiting assistant professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, as well as a research analyst with the Indiana University Public Policy Institute. I hold a J.D from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a B.S. from UC Berkeley.
Broadly, my research focuses on law, policy, and the environment. My dissertation was on the impacts of environmental voluntary programs on facility compliance and regulatory behaviors. Most recently, I worked on projects that examined energy and environmental issues in Indiana, as well as best practices for different criminal justice program areas. My current research centers on environmental voluntary agreements and legal implications of various environmental and energy policies.
I have taught courses in law and policy, legal processes, statistics, and sustainability management. My teaching interests are primarily in the areas of law, policy, and research methods.
Office: FH 152
Office Hours: T 2-20-3pm & 6:20-7pm, R 2:20-3pm
Email: faulk@hotmail.com
Phone: 707-442-8563
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M.A., Humboldt State University
I graduated from Humboldt State University in 1977, won a California State Assembly Fellowship, worked as a legislative consultant to the Chair of the Committee on Local Government and as the environmental, natural resource and utility consultant to the Speaker of the California State Assembly.
Then, I ran political campaigns.
I served as a campaign manager for local candidates and as Press Secretary, twice, in
northern California, for two state propositions. I worked as a political consultant to the California Association of Midwives and North Coast Citizens. Eventually I found a calling on local radio where I wrote and produced, with Linda Pozel, “ People and Poisons” and eventually wrote and produced over 250 installments of “ The Corporate Crime Report,” which was broadcast nationally by Pacifica Radio Group.
My academic training is in political economy and political theory. My teaching focus is on ecological analysis: that is systems thinking. I taught political organizing at Petrolia High School to 11th and 12th graders and to 5th -8th graders at Mistwood Education Center. I founded and directed a private high school, Tierra Madre High School, focused on community based education. I spent five years teaching government on the local Hoopa Reservation. I traveled far and wide in northern California as an academic migrant worker.
My educational philosophy is stolen from Aristotle: “What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing”.
Office: N/A
Office Hours: N/A-off-campus lecturer
Email: joshua.green@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-4495
Office: FH 137
Office Hours: MW 11am-noon, T 2-3pm & by appt.
Email: Alison.Holmes@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-4117
Program Leader, International Studies Program
PhD, London School of Economics
Born and raised in Oklahoma, I headed to the Windy City and Northwestern University at 16. I spent a summer volunteering in Northern Ireland and quickly changed my major to social policy. After graduating in 1985, I went straight to the University of Chicago where I learned more about policy, helped found a campus/community volunteer program and spent every spare moment in the UK.
In 1987 I moved to London and got a job with the Liberal Democrats, the third party in British politics, doing research and writing briefs and speeches on Northern Ireland. When the new Leader took the portfolio I moved to his office, but wound up working more on the 1992 election campaign. Because one good campaign deserves another, I stayed until the 1997 election and became the National Campaign Manager. Ten years and a doubling of LibDem representation in Parliament later, I left the party to join the BBC. They called it corporate communication strategy, but it was really campaigning and I helped launch BBC News 24 and BBC Online. Three years on, I was headhunted by a public relations firm to advise clients on corporate social responsibility issues until I was recruited again, this time to be the Managing Director of the London office of the largest UK/US business membership organization.
Meanwhile, in between elections, I enrolled at the London School of Economics, first for a Diploma in World Politics and then a PhD (part-time). I was awarded my doctorate in International Relations in 2005 and celebrated by leaving the private sector. My first foray into education was a teaching/research fellowship at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University – while also working as speechwriter for the US Ambassador in London. Looking to come home after 21 years abroad, I accepted the Pierre Keller Fellowship in Transatlantic Studies at Yale University and stayed two years. Nearing the end of the fellowship, I couldn’t resist the chance to be a consultant to the 2010 Liberal Democrat Campaign and was thrilled to be part of the team that gained the party (and my old friends) a place in government. There was an opportunity to return to British politics – but I had a better offer here in Arcata.
My research interests (and current book projects) involve British politics, transatlantic diplomacy and international relations theory. In my spare time I enjoy digging in the garden, walking the beaches of Humboldt and listening to lots of live jazz.
Major_Contract-with_concentration.pdf
HSU:
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Office: FH 139
Office Hours: W 3-5pm, R 11am-1pm & by appt.
Email: jared.larson@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-3911
Ph.D., University of Delaware
M.L.S., Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Having lived in and worked at some interesting and beautiful places, I am thrilled to be here at Humboldt State University for the 2016-2017 academic year. I come here after having finished a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Centre for Geographic Studies at the University of Lisbon. (I’m trading the Atlantic for the Pacific, in other words!) Before that, I taught briefly at the now temporarily closed Gediz University in Izmir, Turkey. (This is after the fallout of the recent attempted coup in July of 2016…) I am a firm believer in the liberal arts model of education and thus do my best to help students gain a comprehensive, multidisciplinary critical understanding of and respect for the world that surrounds us all, no matter where we are or where we’re from.
In my case, I was born in Kansas City (which is probably a lot more of a big city than you think) but my familial roots are in small-town Kansas. Nonetheless, I was lucky enough to do a fair amount of growing up in Madrid, Spain. I did my undergraduate studies at Emporia State University, a public, regional university in Kansas which is not all that different from HSU (save the location!), nerdily majoring in Spanish, French, and Philosophy and minoring in Geography (you know, for fun). While there, I did every study abroad program possible, including a year at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. When I graduated from ESU, I went back to the Complutense for a Master of Legal Studies in International Relations and International Law. A few years later, I started my PhD at in Political Science at the University of Delaware but ended up spending most of my time while enrolled at UD researching for my dissertation on the comparative politics of immigration in Spain and Portugal at the University of Lisbon, initially with a Fulbright fellowship (and then I stayed for a couple of more years).
Beyond my studies, over a decade ago I started working with a think tank, the Instituto Galego de Análise e Documentación Internacional, based in Vigo, Galicia (Spain), mostly providing commentary on U.S. politics and foreign policy. Between then and now, I have done some State Department-funded work promoting democracy in Paraguay (also after a coup!), became the Assistant Editor of the UK-based International Journal of Iberian Studies, and have taught courses in international relations, comparative politics, religion and politics, international migration, intro to geography, and even Spanish, at several colleges and universities in now five states (in addition to teaching in Turkey and Portugal). In other words, I know well what it is to be a bit outside of my comfort zone in an academic setting and thus would like to think of myself as a pretty understanding and empathetic professor. If you’re a student here, I hope to meet you in due course!
Office: FH 145
Office Hours: MTWR 11am-12:30pm & by appt.
Email: kml3@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-5830
M.A., Humboldt State University
My path to teaching here at HSU was somewhat untraditional. Although I have been intensely interested in politics for as long as I can remember, my first career was in nursing. During the period that I was taking time out from the ICU to stay at home with young children, I volunteered for organizations such as Physicians for Social Responsibility and Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament. What I discovered was that if one sought to change government policy for the better, one had best be informed about that policy area and all the processes necessary to change it. That is why I choose to explore government and politics and to share that knowledge with students.
Although political science is an area of study to which we bring out own sets of values and biases, it has always been my goal to help students learn, not what to think about political issues, but how to think about them. The late Senator Patrick Moynihan once said, “We are all entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts.” To that end, I strive to present the most up to date factual information as well as analytical models that can help students understand how policy makers use (or abuse) factual information. Because problems we face have complex causes, my approach is multidisciplinary, exploring the scientific, psychological, social and cultural factors that influence political actions.
Regardless of one’s political ideology, it is clear that humanity is facing unprecedented challenges in terms of population, resource scarcity and a changing biosphere. My overarching goal is to provide students with the some of the tools they will need to recognize those challenges and become part of a positive process to address them.
Office: FH 138
Office Hours: M 1-2pm, TW 10-11am & by appt.
Email: john.meyer@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-4497
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Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison
After college, I worked as a political organizer in Colorado, Washington D.C., and Ohio. The work was fulfilling, but I wanted to develop a broader perspective on social and political change and where citizen activism might take us. This led me to pursue a Ph.D. and an academic career.
Throughout my career I’ve been motivated by the conviction that our human relationship with the more-than-human world is vitally important to our social and political values (and vice versa). As a result, I’ve immersed myself in the study of political theory and environmental ideas. At Humboldt, I am privileged to work in a place where many students and fellow faculty share my passions.
My recent research focuses on ways in which environmental concerns can become the basis for effective social criticism. This has led me in several directions, including a critical analysis of the liberal concept of property; reflection upon the possibilities for — and limitations of — a democratic conception of sacrifice; and the tension between populist and paternalist appeals in environmental argument. I’ve written a book on some of these themes entitled Engaging the Everyday: Environmental Social Criticism and the Resonance Dilemma, published in Spring 2015. I’ve written and edited other books, and published articles, essays, and reviews in both academic journals and political magazines. I’ve also been active in cultivating an international network of scholars who have similar interests; we’ve created a listserv, an annual academic workshop, and working group on “environmental political theory.”
I was the founding coordinator of the interdisciplinary M.A. program in Environment and Community (2000-2004), have served as the advisor for the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT), facilitated the creation of a new environmental studies major, and have served on the university’s sustainability steering committee. I am currently a representative on the University Senate.
Office: FH 142
Office Hours: MW 1-3pm & 6:30-7:30pm, & by appt.
Email: klm1338@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-3141
M.A., San Jose State University
I am honored to teach at beautiful Humboldt State University. Moreover, as a Political Scientist, I am grateful and energized to work with our politically astute, active, and social justice-oriented student population. I joined the faculty of Humboldt State University in 2015. I hold a Master’s in Political Science from San Jose State University and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of California, Davis. My areas of specialization include American Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory.
As a lifelong learner, I am currently on my last course for a second Master’s in Congressional and Presidential Studies from the Catholic University of America. I am also working on a PhD in Public Administration (with an emphasis on Local Government Management for Sustainable Communities) at Walden University.
2015 marks my twenty-fifth year as a politics professor. Prior to Humboldt State University, I taught at several colleges, including: American University, Santa Clara University, Golden Gate University, and Stanford University. Embracing hands-on political work with academic scholarship, I also interned with Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) and State Senator Becky Morgan (R-CA) constituent offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park, California.
I taught courses on California Politics, American Politics, Congressional Politics, the Federal Courts, the Presidency, Interest Group Politics, and US Ethnic Politics. I also taught US Foreign Policy and Comparative Politics.
Beginning with the Reagan Administration’s first term in office, my research embodies the politics of alternative energy systems, incorporating solar, wind, biomass, sea thermal, hydro, and wave energy. As both a national security and environmental issue, my interests incorporate ways to politically advance alternative energy. My second Master’s research focus encircles the interplay between congress and the executive branch. My research seeks to remove legislative gridlock in congress. Concurrently, I am interested in the executive branch’s increased use of discretionary authority via signing statements and executive orders. In all areas, I am hopeful that my teaching and research inspires my students to acquire both critical thinking skills and also a social consciousness. This social consciousness is person-centered, geared towards a better-prepared society, one that will awaken the stewards of mother earth and the defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. Our HSU Graduation Pledge captures my own life work ambition. It states, “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organization for which I work.”
Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder
I finished my Ph.D. in 1996 at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Since then I have made my home in Tofino, BC, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. I recently moved to Eureka in order to teach at HSU and I have been pleasantly surprised by how friendly people are here.
I have had a wide variety of jobs since completing my Ph.D., some academic, some definitely not. For example, I have worked as a fisheries observer, kayak guide, and environmental consultant. I served two terms as an elected municipal councilor in Tofino. For nine years, every summer I conducted 6-8 weeks of marine-based bird surveys in the inlets of coastal British Columbia.
On the academic side, I have taught in the Agricultural Sciences department at the University of British Columbia, the Phlisophy department at Simon Fraser University, and the Environmental Studies department at the University of Victoria. For the past four years, I taught for the International Honors Program on an academic year-long university program called Beyond Globalization. This program takes a group of around 30 undergraduates to Tanzania, India, New Zealand, and Mexico to explore issues around culture, ecology, and social justice through cross-cultural and trans-disciplinary perspectives.
The focus of my teaching and research these days is in the area of global politics and economics, with particular emphasis on the role of economic forces in shaping the current global situation. I am particularly interested in the history of economic relationships and the ability of international institutions to address pressing issues such as climate change, species loss, and social justice.
Office: GH 210
Office Hours: By appointment only
Email: noah.zerbe@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-4491
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Ph.D., York University, Toronto
I received my Ph.D. in international political economy from York University in Toronto in 2002. I then spent two years working at the Catholic University of Louvain just outside Brussels before joining the faculty at Humboldt State in the fall of 2004. I’ve spent a fair bit of time abroad—in places ranging from Belgium to Zimbabwe, from Canada to Russia.
In my research, I’m interested in exploring the intersection of politics, economics, and technology. I’ve published on questions arising from technological innovation in agriculture, particularly the debate over genetically modified foods in Europe, the United States, and Southern Africa. My current work takes me in a new direction, looking at the local food movement as a response to technological and economic imperatives of globalization. With our large number of cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, and farmers’ markets, Humboldt County is the perfect place to explore such a question.
Most of my classes are in the areas of international relations and comparative politics. I teach courses on development, Southern Africa, the politics of science and technology, global environmental politics, and the politics of food. I also teach our award-winning Model United Nations course, in which students participate in inter-collegiate competitions representing UN member states and debating issues currently under consideration by the actual United Nations.
When I joined the History/Politics/Environment & Community M.A. Program office in August 2009, it furthered a connection with HSU and Founders Hall that began when I came to HSU as a student to study English and geography. After I graduated in 2006, I worked as a copy editor at The Eureka Reporter until the newspaper folded, at which point I returned to HSU as a staff member. I feel very fortunate to be working in a university environment and especially in the History/Politics/Environment & Community office. Personally, I love books, sports (I was a member of the HSU women’s basketball team as a student), and cooking.
I began in 1992 working part-time in the History Department and now serve as the Coordinator for History, Politics, International Studies, and the Environmental & Community Masters Program. I have served with ten different department chairs and hope I have helped them achieve their respective goals while maintaining consistency and efficiency within the departments. My greatest joy and source of pride is my two children. I particularly love to travel including an annual sojourn to the Sundance Film Festival, Working at Humboldt is a unique experience. Every year there is new group of eager yet anxious students to meet. My most and least treasured day of the year is graduation when I watch students I have seen through tribulation and triumph walk down the aisle to claim their diploma.
