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Faculty
Jennifer Lawless, Associate Professor Government
Jennifer L. Lawless received her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University in 2003 and he B.A. in political science from Union College in 1997. Prior to arriving at American University in Fall 2008, she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Brown University, with a courtesy appointment at the Taubman Center for Public Policy. Her teaching and research focus on gender politics, electoral politics, and public opinion. She has published numerous articles in academic journals, and is also the lead author of It Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (Cambridge University Press, 2005). Her scholarly analysis and political commentary have been quoted in the various newspapers, magazines, television news programs and radio shows. In 2006, she sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Rhode Island's second congressional district.
Karen O’Connor, Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Political Science
Karen O’Connor received her B.A. from the State University College at Buffalo and her Ph.D. and J.D. from SUNY Buffalo. Professor O'Connor has written, co-authored, and edited several books, including Women, Politics, and American Society, 4th ed. (with Nancy E. McGlen, Laura van Assendelft, and Wendy Gunther-Canada); Gendering American Politics: Perspectives from the Literature (co-edited with Sarah E. Brewer and Michael Philip Fisher); Women and Congress: Running, Winning, and Ruling; No Neutral Ground: Abortion Politics in an Age of Absolutes; Women's Organizations' Use of the Courts; and American Government: Continuity and Change, 9th ed. (co-authored with Larry Sabato). Her area of specialty is women and the law. She is past president of the Women’s Caucus for Political Science, the Southern Political Science Association, and the National Capital Area Political Science Association. She also edited Women & Politics from 1999-2003.
Connie Morella, Ambassador-in-Residence
Connie Morella served as Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2003 until 2007. She was a key participant in the negotiations leading to a strategy of enlargement to increase the potential number of countries in the organization and advanced the program to engage with the rapidly developing countries of Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, and South Africa. From 1987 until 2003, Ambassador Morella represented Maryland’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she developed a national reputation as a leading advocate for women, children, and families. She chaired the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and was Co-Chair of the Congressional Delegation to the U.N. Women’s Conference in Beijing. She was also a member of the Committee on Government Reform and she chaired the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia. Ambassador Morella has received numerous awards, including induction into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame and the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Ambassador Morella was a Professor of English at Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland from 1970 until 1985. In 2008, she was a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Ambassador Morella holds a B.A. from Boston University, an M.A. from American University, and 12 honorary degrees.
Barbara Palmer, Assistant Professor
Barbara Palmer is an expert on congressional elections and the success of women candidates. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. She teaches Women, the Law, and Litigating for Social Change, Women and Politics, Gender and the Law, and courses on women and campaigns and elections. She is the co-author of Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling (with Dennis Simon of Southern Methodist University). Her work has appeared in and American Political Science ReviewPolitics and Gender. She has been interviewed by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Minnesota Public Radio, the San Francisco Examiner, and the Voice of America. In the spring of 2005, she received the Alice Paul Award for her commitment to women’s issues and mentoring young women. Professor Palmer is a founding member of Running Start, a non-partisan organization that encourages young women to get involved in politics. Before coming to Washington, she was an Assistant Professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Julia Piscitelli, Lecturer and Assistant Director of the Women & Politics Institute
Julia Piscitelli is the Assistant Director of American University’s Women & Politics Institute. She is a longtime political and communications strategist and media trainer. Julia received her Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School in 2003 and was featured in their 2004 Election Special for managing a congressional campaign in a key swing state.She has worked in Washington, DC and around the country with top lawyers and Harvard professors, and elected representatives at every level, from town planners to members of the U.S. House and Senate. She has also worked successfully with the speaker of the Serbian parliament, and the Episcopal Bishops. Julia is a regular commentator on politics and political communication on Fox News Channel including The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes and Your World with Neil Cavuto.
Jennifer Segal Diascro, Assistant Professor
Jennifer Segal Diascro received her M.A and Ph.D. from Ohio State University. She specializes in the Supreme Court and the media. She is the co-author of Television News and the Supreme Court: All the News That’s Fit to Air? (co-authored with Elliot Slotnick). Professor Diascro also has published “Representative Decision Making on the Federal Bench: Clinton’s District Court Appointees” in Political Research Quarterly. After earning her doctorate in 1995, Dr. Diascro was on the faculty of the Department of Political Science at the University of Kentucky. She was selected by the Supreme Court Fellows Commission to serve as the 2000-2001 Judicial Fellow. Dr. Diascro's research focuses on the politics of the judiciary and includes work on political representation on the federal bench, the mass media and the Supreme Court, public opinion and the Court, and federal sentencing.
Diane Singerman, Associate Professor
Diane Singerman received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Princeton University and did graduate work at the American University in Cairo. Her research and teaching interests include comparative politics, Middle Eastern politics (particularly Egyptian politics), the informal economy, gender, economic and political development, and social movements. She is the author of Avenues of Participation: Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo and Development, Change, and Gender in Cairo: A View from the Household (co-editor with Homa Hoodfar). She teaches Women and the Middle East and Gender, Politics, and Power.
Adjunct Faculty
Eleanor Clift, Professorial Lecturer
Eleanor Clift is a contributing editor at Newsweek magazine, and a nationally recognized political commentator. Her column, “Capitol Letter,” is posted each Friday on Newsweek.com and she appears as a regular panelist on the syndicated talk show, “The McLaughlin Group.” Formerly Newsweek’s White House correspondent, Clift also served as congressional and political correspondent for six years. In June 1992 she as named deputy Washington bureau chief. Clift began her career as a secretary to Newsweek’s National Affairs editor in New York. Clift and her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, who was a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote two books together, War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics (Scribner, 1996), and Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Scribner, 2000). Madam President is (Routledge Press). Clift’s book, Founding Sisters, is about the passage of
the 19th amendment giving women the vote (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).
Stephenie Foster, Professorial Lecturer
Bio Coming Soon
Yvonne Galligan, Adjunct Associate Professor
Yvonne Galligan received her B.A. and her M.A. from the National University of Ireland and her Ph.D. from the University of Dublin. She is the Director for the Centre for the Advancement of Women in Politics at Queen’s University in Belfast. Her publications include Women and Politics in Contemporary Ireland: From the Margins to the Mainstream, numerous book chapters on women and Irish politics, and articles in Irish Political Studies, Scottish Affairs, and West European Politics. She was a visiting Fulbright Fellow to the Institute for the 2005-2006 academic year and conducted comparative research on women and politics in the United States and Ireland. She teaches the Politics and Policy of Women and the European Union.
Marty Langelan , Professorial Lecturer
Marty Langelan received her B.A. and M.A. from Syracuse University. She is a nationally recognized expert on sexual harassment, labor force diversity issues, school and workplace violence, and conflict-intervention strategies. In addition to a 20-year career as an economist and senior manager in the federal government, she is the past President of the National Woman’s Party, the past President of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, and the author of Back Off: How to Confront and Stop Sexual Harassers. Her research on effective strategies to stop harassment and assault has been featured in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, U.S. News & World Report, Fox Morning News, ABC News, 20/20, and other national media outlets. She teaches The Politics and Policy of Sexual Harassment.
Maureen McTeer, Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence
Maureen McTeer received her B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, her LL.M. from the Health Law Institute, and her M.S. from the Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law & Ethics. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Athabasca and Loyalist College. She is an internationally recognized expert in the legal areas of surrogacy and genetic ethics. She is the author of several publications including, Tough Choices: Living & Dying in the 21st Century and Parliament: Canada’s Democracy and How it Works. She teaches The Politics and Policy of Reproductive Technologies and Genetics and The Politics of Equal Rights for Women: Comparing the U.S. and Canada.
Medha Nanivadekar, Professorial Lecturer
Medha Nanivadekar received her B.A. from the University of Bombay and her M.A., M. Phil, and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pune. She is the Director of the Centre for Women’s Studies at Shivaji University in Kolhapur, India. She was a Fulbright International Congressional Fellow through the American Political Science Association for the 2004-2005 academic year. In addition to working in the office of Congressman Jim McDermott (WA-7), she conducted research with the Women & Politics Institute comparing women’s political empowerment in the U.S. and India, focusing on the role of women’s organizations and the impact of women serving in the national legislatures. She teaches Women and Politics in Developing Countries.
Linda Patterson, Adjunct Professor
Linda Mancillas Patterson is an advanced doctoral candidate in the Department of Government at American University, where she received the 2008 Alice Paul Award and the 2005 Women & Politics Institute’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Linda teaches Politics in the U.S. and courses offered by the Women & Politics Institute. She is near completion of her dissertation, The Law and Order Movement: Politics, Crime and Mass Incarceration in the United States. Linda is actively involved in the Women & Politics Institute and has served as its Graduate Coordinator. She holds a bachelor degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Political Science and in Women’s Studies. Linda was awarded the UAB Department of Government’s Mary Wollstonecraft Prize and the Women’s Studies Award of Excellence for her undergraduate scholarship.
Laurie Westley, Professorial Lecturer
Laurie Westley received her B.A. from the Antioch College and her J.D. from Antioch School of Law. She is currently the Senior Vice President for Public Policy, Advocacy and the Research Institute of Girl Scouts of the USA, where she leads the organization's lobbying and advocacy efforts. Prior to joining Girls Scouts of the USA, she was Senior Vice President of the National Policy Office for Voyager Expanded Learning. She has over twenty years of legislative and political experience on Capitol Hill, in business, for national associations of government officials, public-interest organizations, and electoral campaigns. She teaches the Politics and Policy of Girls’ Empowerment.
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