Faculty

Dr. Saundra Curry Ardrey
Ph.D., Ohio State University: Associate Professor - Political Behavior, American Government, minority and women's politics.
Also serving as Department Head and Director of WKU's African-American Studies Department. Visit Dr. Ardrey's Homepage

Dr. James Chappell
D.P.A., University of Alabama: Public Administration; Director of Masters of Public Administration Program (MPA).

Dr. Craig T. Cobane
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati: International Relations, Security Studies, Political Violence, and Political Theory.
Research areas include: NATO and the evolving European security architecture, the current global war on terrorism (i.e., GWOT) and
issues related to pedagogy. He is also the director of the University Honors Program.

Dr. Victoria Gordon
D.P.A., University of Illinois at Springfield: Assistant Professor; Serves as director of the Center for Local Governments at Western Kentucky University.
Her research interests include regional economic development and human resource management.

Dr. Jeffrey Kash
Ph.D., University of Iowa: American Politics, Comparative Politics and Political Theory. Teaches American politics and public policy. Research interests: agriculture and environmental policy.

Dr. Soleiman Kiasatpour
Ph.D., University of California, Riverside: International Relations, Comparative Politics and American Institutions.
Research interests include regime transitions, Middle East politics, public diplomacy and pedagogy. Dr. Kiasatpour teaches international and comparative politics, American politics, Politics and Film, Middle East politics and political terrorism. He also leads Study Abroad trips to Turkey and Egypt. [home ]

Dr. Scott Lasley
Ph.D., University of Iowa: American Politics, Legislative Politics, and Research Methods. Research Focus: Elections and Sports and Politics.
Currently serving as the campus coordinator for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission Internship Program.

Dr. Roger Murphy
Ph.D., Indiana University: International Relations, Comparative and American Politics. Research interests include: International Political Economy,
Foreign Policy, European politics and EU, Bureaucracy and Institutional Change, British Politics, and American Politics. Also coaches the Model United Nations team.
Conducts study programs in the Czech Republic, Baltic States, UK and Russia.

Dr. John H. Petersen
Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh: Comparative and International Politics. Teaches Latin American, British and Canadian Politics.

Dr. Cole Taratoot
Ph.D., Georgia State University: American politics. Research and teaching interests include public law, courts, administrative law, and bureaucratic politics.
Dr. Taratoot is the pre-law advisor for the Department of Political science, advisor to the Pre-Law Club, and assistant coach for the Mock Trial Team.
You can visit Dr. Taratoot's [homepage]

Dr. Joel Turner
Ph.D., Florida State University: American Politics. Research and teaching interests include media and politics, political psychology,
public opinion, political behavior, and state government. Dr. Turner is also co-advisor to the WKU College Republicans. [home ]

Dr. Edward Yager
Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara. Research and teaching interests include: American presidency, political theory, privatization and economic development.
Also serving as Coordinator of Public Administration Internships [ home ]

Adjunct Faculty

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