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Education

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Ph.D. in Political Science, 2004
Fields of Concentration: Political Theory, Women & Politics, and Public Law
Dissertation: “Toward a Structural Theory of Freedom: Non-Domination, Self-Definition, and the Politics of Liberation”
Whitman College
B.A. Politics with Honors (Gender Studies Minor), Cum Laude, 1996

Employment

• Associate Professor of Political Science, Kalamazoo College, 2010-present;

Chair, Department of Political Science, 2013-present

Dean of the First-Year Class, fall 2016-present

Program Director, Women, Gender, and Sexuality, 2011-2012

Program Director, Critical Theory, 2010-2011

• Assistant Professor of Political Science, Kalamazoo College, 2004-2009

• Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Kalamazoo College, 2003-2004

• Associate, Teaching Assistant Project, Office of the Dean of the Graduate School at Rutgers University, 2002-2003

• Instructor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Rutgers University, 2001-2002
• Instructor, Political Science, Rutgers University, 2000-2001
• Teaching Assistant (for Gordon Schochet), Political Science, Rutgers University, 2000

Research Interests

Political Theory: feminist theory; democratic theory; contemporary political theory; 18th-century American and European political thought; Jean-Jacques Rousseau; classical republicanism
Interdisciplinary: women’s and gender studies; theories of freedom; theories of structure and agency; critical social theory and social practice theory; feminist geography & geographical theory; phenomenology

Publications

Einspahr, Jennifer. 2015. Review of Denise Schaeffer: Rousseau on Education, Freedom, and Judgment. (University Park: Penn State Press, 2014). In Review of Politics 77(1): 136-138.
Einspahr, Jennifer. 2015. “Essentialism,” in M. Gibbons (Ed.), Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Political Thought. New York: Blackwell Publishing. (6000 words; peer reviewed.)
Einspahr, Jennifer. 2014. “Feminism and the Politics of Knowledge,” Contemporary Political Theory 13(1): 64-69.
Einspahr, Jennifer. 2013. “The History of Political Thought and the Category Woman,” Political Theory 41(3): 499-504.
Einspahr, Jennifer. 2010. “Structural Domination and Structural Freedom: A Feminist Perspective,” Feminist Review 94: 1-19. *Winner of the Okin-Young Award for the best paper in feminist political theory published in 2010.
Einspahr, Jennifer. 2010. “The Beginning that Never Was: Mediation and Freedom in Rousseau’s Political Thought,” The Review of Politics 72(3): 437-462.

Selected Conference Participation

Chair and Discussant, “Rethinking Democratic Agency: Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Autonomy,” at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA (Sept. 3-6, 2015).
Participant, “Structural Inequality and the Regulation of Bodies,” workshop at the annual meeting of the Association for Political Theory, Madison, WI (October, 2014).
Participant, Reacting to the Past Faculty Institute, Barnard College (June 6-9, 2013).
“Feminism and the Politics of Knowledge,” presented at the Western Political Science Association Annual Conference, Portland, OR (March, 2012).
“Space and Place in Democratic Practices of Freedom,” presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Political Theory, South Bend, IN (October, 2011).
“Space and Place in Democratic Practices of Freedom,” presented at the Western Political Science Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA (March, 2010).
“Spaces of Freedom,” presented at the Western Political Science Association Conference, San Diego, CA (March, 2008).
“Structural Domination Reconsidered,” presented at the Association for Political Theory Conference, London, ON (October, 2007).
“Spaces of Freedom: Imag(in)ing the Material World,” presented at the Association for Political Theory Conference, Bloomington, IN (November, 2006).
“Beyond Subject Formation: Feminist Theories of Freedom and the Context of Democracy,” presented at the Western Political Science Association Conference, Oakland, CA (March, 2005).
“Structure, Agency, and Freedom: Beyond Individual versus Community,” presented at the Western Political Science Association Conference, Denver, CO (March, 2003).

Awards, Grants, and Honors

 Recipient of University of Michigan Mellon Sabbatical Support Grant, 2012
 Recipient of 2011 Okin-Young Award for best paper in feminist political theory published in an English language journal in 2010 for “Structural Domination and Structural Freedom”
 Finalist, Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship Competition, 2003
 Phi Beta Kappa, 1996

Professional Organizations

Member: American Political Science Association, 1999 – present
Section: Foundations of Political Theory
Section: Women and Politics
Member: Association for Political Theory, 2003 – present
Member: Women’s Caucus for Political Science, 1999 – present
Member: Western Political Science Association, 2003 – present

Courses Taught

Political Science, 100-level
Introduction to Political Theory: The Nature of Politics
Political Science, 200-level
Justice and Political Community: Classical Political Theory
Liberty, Equality, and Authority: Modern Political Theory
American Political Thought
Feminist Political Theories
Political Theory and the Environment
Political Science, 300-level
Domination and Liberation in the 21st Century: Contemporary Political Theory
Gender and Western Political Theory
Democracy and Democratic Theory
Women’s Studies, 100-level
Introduction to Women’s Studies: Women, Culture, and Society
Women’s Studies, 400-level:
Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies: Gender and Citizenship
Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies: Intersectionality
First-Year Seminar Program, Kalamazoo College
Truth, Lies, and Politics: From Plato to Trump
It’s a Free Country (incorporating Reacting to the Past)
Belonging: Inclusion, Exclusion, and Identity
Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

Professional Experience

 Peer Reviewer for the following journals:
Political Theory
American Political Science Review
Review of Politics
European Journal of Political Theory
Hypatia
Politics and Gender
Feminist Review
Urban Studies
Polity

 External Reviewer for Adrian College Department of Political Science, 2015
 GLCA Academic Leadership and Innovation Fellow, February, 2007
 As Associate of the Teaching Assistant Project, a division of the Dean’s Office of the Graduate School – New Brunswick, Rutgers University, May 2002 – June 2003:
 With one team member, facilitated Introduction to College Teaching, a credit course open to all graduate students and sponsored by the Graduate School – New Brunswick, Rutgers University (Spring 2003)
 Edited TAPTalk, The Newsletter of the Teaching Assistant Project, Rutgers University; solely responsible for all content and production of three editions per semester. The newsletter deals with philosophical and practical issues in college teaching. Available online: http://taproject.rutgers.edu/publications/taptalk.php3
 Developed and implemented the Fall Teaching Colloquium, sponsored by the TA Project and the Graduate School – New Brunswick (Fall 2002)
 As team leader for the Teaching Assistant Project, facilitated and implemented the Rutgers Teaching Assistant Orientation Day (August 30, 2002) and the International Teaching Assistant Orientation day (August 29, 2002)
 Completed Introduction to College Teaching, a semester-long credit course sponsored by the Graduate School – New Brunswick (Spring 2002)

Selected Service

Dean of the First-Year Class, fall 2016-present
Faculty Search Committees (recent)
 Chair, Political Science search committee, 2013-2014
 Member, Philosophy search committee, 2010-2011
Standing Committees
 Member, Academic Standards Committee, 2015-16
 Member, Women’s Studies/WGS Program Committee, Fall 2003-present;
 Member, Critical Theory Program Committee, 2010-present
 Member, Assessment Committee, 2010-2014
 Untenured Faculty Representative, Faculty Executive Committee, Kalamazoo College, Spring, 2006-2009

Special Assignments
 Member, Reaccreditation Task Force, 2010-2011
 GLCA Academic Council Representative, 2009-2012
Other Campus Leadership
 As part of Introduction to Women’s Studies, Spring, 2008, produced the “Be the Voice” CD featuring local women’s music; $500 was raised for the Girls in the Wild organization through donations
 As part of Introduction to Women’s Studies, Winter, 2007, produced a pro-woman calendar entitled “Peace, Love, Body”; 1500 copies were made and over $1000 was raised for the YWCA of Kalamazoo through donations

Other Skills

Reading Competency in Spanish Language