News and Events

Upcoming Events

  • Saint Francis and Mussolini, Fascist Appropriations of a Beloved Italian Saint

    St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated as the patron saint of animals and is also recognized as a symbol of pacifism and brotherhood. How then could the figure of St. Francis end up serving the Fascist political project, most tellingly by being declared the Patron Saint of (Fascist) Italy in 1939? Why, and how, would this scrawny Saint become the emblem of a nation dedicated to war?

    Axinn Center Abernethy Room (221)

    Open to the Public

  • Join Artists of the Collective Art Lords in Painting a Mural on Art, Migration, and Belonging at Proctor

    Students, Faculty, and Staff are invited to join the members of the artistic collective, Art Lords, to paint a mural in Proctor on the theme of art, migration, and belonging. No artistic experience required! Come for as little or as long as you like! Painting will take place between 9am-8pm on April 24-25th. 

    Sponsored by the Committee on Art in Public Spaces, Committee on the Arts, International & Global Studies-Middle East and North Africa, Office of Equity, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, and the Innovation Hub. 

    Proctor Dining Room

    Closed to the Public

  • Join Artists of the Collective Art Lords in Painting a Mural on Art, Migration, and Belonging at Proctor

    Students, Faculty, and Staff are invited to join the members of the artistic collective, Art Lords, to paint a mural in Proctor on the theme of art, migration, and belonging. No artistic experience required! Come for as little or as long as you like! Painting will take place between 9am-8pm on April 24-25th. 

    Sponsored by the Committee on Art in Public Spaces, Committee on the Arts, International & Global Studies-Middle East and North Africa, Office of Equity, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, and the Innovation Hub. 

    Proctor Dining Room

    Closed to the Public

  • Weekly Politics Luncheon

    Students, staff, alumni and the public are invited to attend this weekly nonpartisan discussion of recent political events, hosted by Professor Matthew Dickinson. Held in person and by zoom almost every Tuesday, 12:30-1:30 pm EST. Check the calendar for dates. No expertise assumed. All viewpoints welcome. To register for the zoom sessions, please contact Prof. Dickinson at his email: dickinso@middlebury.edu

    Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room

    Open to the Public

  • Tools and Techniques of Repressive Law in Contemporary Russia

    Research on law in authoritarian countries has revealed that authoritarian leaders are masters at creatively and pragmatically using law and courts to achieve their political goals.  Putin’s Russia is a stark example.

    Warner 100

    Open to the Public

  • Slavery, Abolition, and the Antebellum Origins of Modern Business Ethics

    The Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs program on Global and International History presents “Slavery, Abolition, and the Antebellum Origins of Modern Business Ethics” with Seth Rockman, the George L. Littlefield Professor of American History and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Brown University.

    Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room

    Open to the Public

  • Weekly Politics Luncheon

    Students, staff, alumni and the public are invited to attend this weekly nonpartisan discussion of recent political events, hosted by Professor Matthew Dickinson. Held in person and by zoom almost every Tuesday, 12:30-1:30 pm EST. Check the calendar for dates. No expertise assumed. All viewpoints welcome. To register for the zoom sessions, please contact Prof. Dickinson at his email: dickinso@middlebury.edu

    Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room

    Open to the Public

  • 2026 ECON & IPEC Spring thesis Poster Session

    This event will be a poster presentation by ECON and IPEC thesis students, followed by Q/A from the audience including faculty, students, staff and community.

    Wilson Hall, McCullough Student Center

    Open to the Public

  • Weekly Politics Luncheon

    Students, staff, alumni and the public are invited to attend this weekly nonpartisan discussion of recent political events, hosted by Professor Matthew Dickinson. Held in person and by zoom almost every Tuesday, 12:30-1:30 pm EST. Check the calendar for dates. No expertise assumed. All viewpoints welcome. To register for the zoom sessions, please contact Prof. Dickinson at his email: dickinso@middlebury.edu

    Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room

    Open to the Public

  • Mahaney Arts Center Commencement 2026 Departmental Reception

    Please join the departments of History of Arts and Architecture, International and Global Studies, International Politics and Economics, and Music for a reception celebrating graduates in these disciplines. 

    The following departments invite grads and their guests to join them in the locations listed below.

    History of Arts and Architecture | Seeler Studio Theater | 2:30-3:15 pm
    International and Global Studies | MAC 232 | 2:30-3:15 pm

    Mahaney Arts Center

  • McCardell Bicentennial Hall Commencement 2026 Departmental Reception

    Please join the departments of Anthropology and Political Science for a reception celebrating graduates in these disciplines.

    The following departments invite grads and their guests to join them in the locations listed below.

    Anthropology | MBH 219 | 3:30-4:15 pm

    Political Science | MBH 216 | 4:45-5:30 pm

    McCardell Bicentennial Hall

News and Accomplishments

Assistant Professor Caileigh Glenn and Jon Pevehouse have published “International Dimensions of Democratization” in World Politics.

Assistant Professor Margaret Hanson and Gaukhar Baltabayeva have published “Exit as voice, for the economically mobile: Explaining first‑wave Russian migration to Central Asia & the Caucasus” in the Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies.

Assistant Professor Margaret Hanson and colleagues won the Heinz I. Eulau Award for “Under the Veil of Democracy: What Do People Mean When They Say They Support Democracy,” published in Perspectives on Politics.

Visiting Assistant Professor Daniel Fram published “A Critique of Martha Nussbaum’s Cosmopolitanism and Patriotism” in American Political Thought: A Journal of Ideas, Institutions, and Culture.

Associate Professor Gary Winslett has published “Digital Trade in Services: Globalization’s Exciting New Frontier” in the edited volume Defending Globalization: Facts and Myths About The Global Economy and Its Fundamental Humanity.

Associate Professor Ajay Verghese published “The Qualitative Metamorphosis” in Comparative Politics.

Associate Professor Ajay Verghese has won a three-year Fulbright Flex Grant to support his research in India.

Associate Professor Sebnem Gumuscu and Ilkim Buke Okyar published “Teaching Israel-Palestine Across the Atlantic: Addressing Affective Polarization and Dehumanization through Dialogic Education” in PS: Politics and Society.

Associate Professor Sebnem Gumuscu and Aylin Aydin-Cakir published “Constitution-making in polarized transitions: The role of civil society in the establishment of independent judiciary” in International Journal of Constitutional Law.

Associate Professor Sebnem Gumuscu has published “How to Fight Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn” in the Journal of Democracy.

Associate Professor Sebnem Gumuscu and colleagues have published “Competitive yet unfair: 2023 elections and authoritarian resilience in Turkey”  in South European Society and Politics.

Professor Kemi Fuentes-George has published “‘Music Gonna Teach’: Decolonizing IR Through a Musical Exploration of Knowledge” in the Review of International Studies.

Professor Kemi Fuentes-George and colleagues Guntram Herb and Sujata Moorti have published the Middlebury Atlas of Globalization: A Concise, Visual Guide to Our Globalized World.

Professor Kemi Fuentes-George has received a five-year NSF/UVM Study of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS) Grant.

Professor Jessica Teets, T Hildebrandt, R. Hasmath, JYJ Hsu, and CL Hsu published “What Makes a ‘Bad Citizen’? Understanding Non-Participation in Philanthropic and Voluntaristic Activities in China” in Journal of Asian Public Policy.

Professor Jessica Teets has been awarded the Guang Biao Distinguished Chair Professor, Zhejiang University, a position she will hold for three years.

Professor Jessica Teets and her colleague Xiang Gao have published “China ushers in a new era governance framework” in East Asia Forum Quarterly.

Professor Jessica Teets and colleagues have published “The Civic Participation in China Survey: Key Trends in Philanthropic and Voluntary Activities” in the Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies.

Professor Jessica Teets and colleagues have published the dataset “Civic Participation in China Surveys – 3 waves of surveys from China available with questions focused on volunteering, donating, and perspectives on citizenship.”

Professor Sarah Stroup published “Global development in crisis: responding to America’s retreat” in the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) Briefing Paper.

Professor Sarah Stroup published “Information bubbles and US foreign policy: the illusion of public support” in FIIA Comment. 

Professor Sarah Stroup has published “Humanitarian Organizations” in the Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality.

Professor Sarah Stroup has been named Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs during her leave year, and has support from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation and the Jeffrey R. Cason Memorial Field Work Fund.

Charles A. Dana Professor Erik Bleich and colleague A. Maurits van der Veen have published “The Advantages of Lexicon-based Sentiment Analysis in an Age of Machine Learning” in PLOS ONE.

Charles A. Dana Professor Erik Bleich, Husam AlZubaidy, Andrey Cao, Abigail Chang, Nikki Sadat, Abby Ward, and A. Maurits van der Veen published “The Politics of Language: Politicized Semantic Change, Pejoration, and the Case of ‘Woke’’ in Political Studies.

Charles A. Dana Professor Erik Bleich, Gyula Zsombok, and A. Maurits van der Veen published “Social Proximity, Discursive Opportunity Structures, and the Diffusion of the Culture Wars: The Case of ‘Woke’ in France” in International Journal of Comparative Sociology.

Charles A. Dana Professor Erik Bleich and colleague A. Maurits van der Veen have been awarded the International Studies Association International Communications Section Best Book Award for Covering Muslims: American Newspapers in Comparative Perspective.

Brooke Fox, Department Coordinator

(802) 443-5310

brookef@middlebury.edu

Erik Bleich, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science and Department Chair

Munroe Hall 301

(802) 443-3254

ebleich@middlebury.edu

By appointment