Faculty 2011-2012

Randy Hagerty is the Chair of the Political Science Department and has been at Truman since 1990. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Texas Tech University, and his doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His teaching interests include public policy and American government, with a focus on interest group politics and environmental politics and policies. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha and the Western Political Science Association. He is a recipient of Truman State’s Educator of the Year Award and the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2010 he was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa Faculty Hall of Fame.

Paul Parker came to Truman in 1988. He earned degrees at Pacific Lutheran University (B.A.) and the University of Maryland (M.A., Ph.D.) His teaching interests include law and courts. He is a member of the Midwest Political Science Association, the American Political Science Association, and two regional political science associations.  He is advisor to the Pre-Law Club.  Dr. Parker also received the 2008 E.M. Violette Outstanding Advisor of the Year Award for his work with Truman State Habitat for Humanity.

James Przybylski has been at Truman since 1973. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and his master’s and doctorate from the University of Illinois. His teaching interests include state and local government, public opinion, electoral behavior, and political parties. His research interests include partisan realignment and electoral behavior. He is a member of the Midwest Political Science Association, the American Political Science Association, and Phi Beta Kappa.

John James Quinn has been at Truman since the fall of 1996.  He majored in History and English at St. Vincent College (Latrobe, PA) and is certified to teach high school.  He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA (1995).  He teaches African Politics, Comparative Politics, International Political Economy, Research Methodology, Introduction to Political Science, Introduction to International Relations, and Senior Seminar.  He taught at the University of Ghana-Legion for a semester and spent three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo.  His primary research agenda centers on the political and economic effects of majority state ownership of industry or mining or oil in Africa.  He also works on issues of African democratization in the post-Cold War period, French ODA in Africa, regional diffusion of ethnic conflict to Zaire, corruption, and comparative development and democracy. He is author of The Road Oft Traveled: Development Politics and Majority State Ownership of Industry in Africa (Praeger, 2002).  He has also published articles in such journals as International Interactions, Party Politics, and International Politics; he has written several chapters for books as well.  In 2010 he was named as a Walker and Doris Allen Fellow. Further information is on his website at

http://www2.truman.edu/~jquinn/

Michael Rudy joined the Truman faculty in the Fall of 2009. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, a master’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and he will complete his doctorate this fall at the University of Missouri. His teaching interests include International Relations, Comparative Politics and American Government. His research interests include democratic peace theory, prospect theory, war outcomes, and multilateral disputes. He has published articles in such journals as Journal of Slavic Military Studies, International Interactions and Conflict Management and Peace Science.

Candace Young has been at Truman since 1980. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Missouri. Her teaching interests include American government, bureaucratic politics, and public policy. Her current research focuses on legislators’ use of information, the effects of term limits on the state legislature, higher education policy, and assessment of student learning. She has served on numerous statewide panels related to issues of higher education including the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.  In 1992, Dr. Young was selected by students as Educator of the Year, and in 1993 she was the recipient of a Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.  In 2004, she was named by the University as a Walker and Doris Allen Fellow.  Dr. Young is a member of the American Political Science Association and is a past-president of the Missouri Association of Faculty Senates and the Missouri Political Science Association.

Galina Zapryanova joined the Political Science faculty this academic year as a visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science. Dr. Zapryanova has a Bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College, and received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She spent the summer of 2011 as a Research Fellow at the Max Weber Postdoctoral Programme at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Her fields of specialization include International Relations, Comparative Politics, Methodology, the Politics of Europe and the Politics of Latin America.