Faculty

Dr. James W. Binney is an instructor for Penn State World Campus. He has a wide range of teaching interests that include American politics, international relations theory, racial politics and ethnic conflict, comparative politics (regional specialties in Post-Soviet politics and Central Asia), political and economic development, developing nations, and political theory and ideologies. Dr. Binney is interested in research in foreign aid.

Dr. Marie Hojnacki is an associate professor of political science at Penn State University Park. Her research examines how organized interests act to shape public policy, and why some types of interests have advantages over others in terms of policy success and agenda setting. A current project investigates how organizations communicate their issue priorities, and how and why communication strategies may differ for different types of groups. Dr. Hojnacki teaches about political parties, interest groups, representation, and research design.

Dr. Amy Linch is an assistant professor of teaching and co-director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at Penn State University Park. She has authored and edited several works on democratization in postcommunist societies and social and political transformation in early modern England. Her recent work focuses on the intersection between human capabilities and the capabilities of other species.

Dr. Tamar London is an instructor for Penn State World Campus. Her past research has focused on mathematical models of international negotiation. She teaches courses on international relations, international political economy, and game theory and statistics.

Dr. Nicole Morford is an instructor for Penn State World Campus. Her research focused on social movements and civil society development in post-Soviet states, particularly the women's movement in Ukraine. She teaches courses about American and comparative politics.

Dr. Adam Nye is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Political Science at Penn State’s University Park campus. He primarily teaches courses related to public law and judicial politics. The public law courses focus on landmark Supreme Court cases, while the courses related to judicial politics concentrate on legal procedures and the behavior of judges. In addition, Dr. Nye also teaches about the bureaucracy in America, and the American national government.

Dr. Amanda Parks, an instructor for Penn State World Campus, centers her research and teaching interests around public opinion and political communication, with a particular focus on the institutional reasons for media distortions and its effect on citizens' evaluations of policies and candidates. Other research interests include deliberative citizen engagement and the effects of new media on political communication.