School of Natural and Social Sciences:
Political Science Faculty (Board of Study)

Shemeem Burney Abbas (on leave Fall 2009)
Associate Professor of Political Science
M.A., University of Leeds; M.A., Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin. Gender and Islamic studies; human rights; postcolonialism; sociolinguistic study of Pakistani and Indian languages.
shemeem.abbas@purchase.edu

Zehra F. Kabasakal Arat
Professor of Political Science
B.A., Bogaziçi University, Istanbul; M.A., Ph.D., Binghamton University, SUNY. SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. Democracy; human rights; women’s rights; women and development; poverty and globalization.
zehra.arat@purchase.edu

Karen Baird
Associate Professor of Political Science
B.S., M.A., Ph.D., University of Houston. Health care policy; women and public policy; women and AIDS; poverty in the United States; political theory; feminist theory; research methods.
karen.baird@purchase.edu

Karen Burstein
Lecturer in Political Science and Environmental Studies (part-time)
B.A., Bryn Mawr College; J.D., Fordham University. Telecommunications and energy law; employment discrimination; intellectual property; family court matters.
karen.burstein@purchase.edu

Damian J. Fernandez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Professor of Political Science
B.A., Princeton University; M.A., University of Florida, Gainesville; Ph.D., University of Miami. Latin American politics and international relations; politics of Latinos in the U.S.; state-society relations in a transnational context; Cuba’s domestic politics and foreign policy.
damian.fernandez@purchase.edu

John Gitlitz
Associate Professor of Political Science
B.A., Oberlin College; M.A., Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Religion and politics in Latin America; Peru; political violence and human rights.
john.gitlitz@purchase.edu

Karen Kramer
Lecturer in Political Science (part-time)
B.A., Vassar College; M.A., Columbia University. Middle Eastern politics and economics.
karen.kramer@purchase.edu
Experience Purchase: Karen Kramer profile and podcast

Connie Lobur
Associate Professor of Political Science
B.A., B.S., Pennsylvania State University; M.A., Ph.D., Rutgers University. U.S. Constitutional law and politics; feminist jurisprudence; political theory.
connie.lobur@purchase.edu

Peter Schwab
Professor of Political Science
B.A., Fairleigh Dickinson University; M.A., Ph.D., New School for Social Research. SUNY Chancellor’s Research Recognition Award. Human rights; the Middle East; U.S. foreign policy; African politics.
peter.schwab@purchase.edu

Emeritus Faculty

Ina Schlesinger
Associate Professor Emerita of Political Science
B.A., New York University; M.A., University of Michigan; Ph.D., Columbia University. The former Soviet Union; Eastern Europe.

Updated July 3, 2009