Faculty

Faculty Members

Teaching in one of the PC’s largest departments, political science faculty members possess expertise in an array of topics, including campaigns and elections, civic engagement, communications and the media, constitutional law, democracy and development, Latino and black politics, globalization, race, gender and sexuality, social justice and equality. Our faculty study many aspects of American politics as well as numerous other countries, with particular strengths in East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

For more information, we invite you to browse the profile links on this page.

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New Faculty! (Spring 2025)

Dr. Dacia Pajé

Dacia Pajé is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies in the Political Science Department. As a feminist media scholar, in her research, she strives to put media products in conversation with current feminist discourses and socio-political and legal events. More specifically, from television content-making to social media conversations, her research agenda concerns the exploration of sexual violence, its media representation, and how audiences understand and elaborate on it. Methodologically, she relies on qualitative approaches, such as focus groups, interviews, and feminist critical discourse analysis. She is currently working on several projects, from anti-feminist discourses on social media to transnational feminist movements and sexual violence awareness. Her research has been published in Feminist Media Studies and as chapters in several, published and forthcoming, edited volumes.

Area(s) of Expertise: media studies, feminism(s), the (televisual) representation of “feminism,” sexual violence, crime and legal dramas, social media and social movements, civic imagination and social awareness

Link to personal website: https://www.dacia-paje.com/

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Visiting Faculty

Dr. Zachariah Wheeler

Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science at Providence College.

Dr. Wheeler is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work examines the relationships between media, culture, and politics. He completed a PhD in Political and Cultural Thought in the ASPECT program at Virginia Tech, as well as a Master of Arts in Cinema Studies at New York University, NY and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Film Studies at Salisbury University, MD. His recent research is focused on how class divisions in the post-industrial era have reshaped American politics and culture. At PC, Dr. Wheeler has taught Electoral and Campaign Communication, and this semester, he is teaching Introduction to Communication, as well as Mass Media and Politics, which is cross-listed with American Studies. Next semester, he will be teaching Media and Society.

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