Dr. Oana Armeanu, Assistant Professor

Dr. Oana Armeanu, an Assistant Professor of Political Science, teaches comparative politics, international relations, international organizations, Western European politics, and government and politics of communist & post-communist states.

Dr. Armeanu came to USI in the fall of 2007 from Dallas, Texas, where she taught at the Southern Methodist University. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005. She has an M.A. in Political Science from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary and an M.D. from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania.

Dr. Armeanu  worked as a journalist for the “22” news magazine in Romania and for the Radio Free Europe. During this period she wrote numerous articles on the social and political problems of post-communist transition.

Dr. Armeanu is the faculty advisor for the Political Science Society. Her research focuses on post-communist Europe: welfare state reform, political parties, electoral systems, and democratization. Dr. Oana Armeanu was awarded the Lilly Excellence through Engagement Summer Research Fellowship during the summer of 2009 to support her research on pension reform. Her book The Politics of Pension Reform in Central and Eastern Europe — Political Parties, Coalitions, and Policies was recently published by Palgrave-Macmillan.

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Dr. Mary (M.T.) Hallock Morris, Associate Professor

Dr. M.T. Hallock Morris is the Chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at USI. A native of Montpelier, Ohio, Dr. Hallock Morris was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1991, she earned her B.S. in Communication Arts from The Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio. After working as a newspaper editor for five years, she earned her Master of Arts in Community and Environmental Education from The McGregor School of Antioch University, Yellow Springs, Ohio. In March 2004, she received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University – Bloomington, after completing her dissertation on the politics of wetland loss in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone.” Her dissertation was selected as one of two recipients for Indiana University’s Katherine C. Greenough Dissertation Award for best dissertation in political science.

Prior to coming to USI, Dr. Hallock Morris worked for Southern Mutual Help Association, a nonprofit organization located in rural Louisiana. This practical experience is put to good use in her MPA courses in Fundraising and Volunteer Administration, and in Leadership Skills. She also teaches public policy, environmental policy, research methods, and public administration courses at the undergraduate level. In January 2009, Dr. Hallock Morris received the USI award for Outstanding Teaching by a Junior Faculty Member. In 2010, she received USI’s Outstanding Academic Advisor Award.

Her research interests include environmental policy, political behavior, leadership behavior in nonprofit organizations, women and politics, and pop culture and politics. Dr. Hallock Morris received an “Excellence through Engagement” Summer Research Fellowship for 2006 to support her research on the public policy impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She received the Defiance College’s Alumni Citation for Academic Excellence in Fall 2008. Dr. Hallock Morris is currently the editor of the Indiana Journal of Political Science and is a member of the Executive Council of the Indiana Political Science Association.

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Dr. Matthew Hanka, Assistant Professor

Dr. Matthew Hanka is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Master of Public Administration program. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Hanka earned a B.A. in history and politics from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC in 2002, and earned a M.A. in Political Science in 2004 and a Ph.D. in Urban and Public Affairs in 2009 from the University of Louisville. His dissertation examines the impact of the HOPE VI program on the economic revitalization of Newport, Kentucky. Dr. Hanka was the recipient of the University of Louisville’s Graduate Dean’s Citation and was nominated for the John M. Houchens Prize for Outstanding Dissertation.

Prior to coming to USI, Dr. Hanka was the Senior Researcher for the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods (SUN) at the University of Louisville for four years, where he helped supervise the completion of an eight year program evaluation of Newport, Kentucky’s HOPE VI program, and co-authored a statewide study on historic preservation in Kentucky through a grant from Preservation Kentucky, Inc.

Dr. Hanka was one of the youngest persons ever elected to the District of Columbia’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC), representing single member district 5C12 in ANC 5C for one term. Dr. Hanka also has extensive experience in the government and non-profit sector. He served as an AmeriCorps volunteer for Heads Up: A University Neighborhood Initiative in Washington, DC and as the Director of Community Outreach for Brookland Pride, Inc., a non-profit community development organization also based in DC. Dr. Hanka is past-president of the Louisville Chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and currently serves as the Mid-East Regional Representative on UNA-USA’s Council of Chapters and Divisions.

Dr. Hanka’s research interests include housing, urban politics and policy, community development, comparative urban development, neighborhood housing dynamics, green cities, government reorganization, historic preservation, and economic development. He has published numerous reports, four refereed journal articles, and is currently preparing a proposal for a book on sustainable green cities. He has taught courses in American government and public administration at the University of Louisville, Indiana University-Southeast and Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville.

Dr. Hanka is a member of the 2011 class of Connect with Southern Indiana, a program sponsored by USI's Division of Outreach and Engagement. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Evansville and the USI representative to the Board of the Westside Improvement Association (WIA) in Evansville.

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Dr. Nicholas LaRowe, Assistant Professor

Dr. Nicholas LaRowe is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the Pre-Law program. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he grew up in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Professor LaRowe completed his undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities graduating with a B.A. in both Political Science and History. He then went on to Arizona State University, where he completed his M.A. in Political Science in 2007 and earned his Ph.D. in July 2010. His dissertation examines the effect of patterns in media coverage on public support for the Supreme Court and was selected as one winner of Arizona State University’s Graduate College Dissertation Fellowship in a university-wide competition.

Dr. LaRowe’s primary area of expertise is judicial politics; his research and teaching interests include law and society, Constitutional law, the Supreme Court, American government, public opinion, media and politics, and political theory. At Arizona State he taught courses on the Supreme Court and American government. At Southern Indiana he teaches courses on American Government, the American Legal System, Empirical Political Inquiry, and American Political Thought.

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Dr. Paul Raymond, Associate Professor

Dr. Paul Raymond is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Core Curriculum Assessment. He has a B.A. from The College of Wooster, a M.A. in political science from Brown University, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Raymond also has a M.S. in educational administration from State University of New York-Albany.

Dr. Raymond teaches introductory courses in political science as well as several upper-level courses: Political Parties, The Legislative Process, The Presidency, and State and Local Government.

Professor Raymond's research focuses on American political processes: voting behavior, political tolerance, presidential popularity, campaign communications, and public opinion. He is currently engaged currently engaged in a study of school board elections and research on the impact of Day Reporting Drug Programs on recidivism.