Mary Witlacil is Assistant Professor of Political Science.

What’s your area of expertise? What do you primarily research and/or teach? And what drew you to this field?

As a Fine Arts Major during my undergraduate studies, I would find myself getting into impassioned political discussions with my art professor. At some point, he mentioned his love of political science. The next semester, I registered for my first American Politics class, and I was hooked. By the following Fall, I changed majors to Political Science. Then, after working outside of academia, I decided to return to graduate school to study the politics of climate change.

By training, I am an environmental political theorist, and I have broad expertise and interest in environmental politics and policy, critical theory, the politics of climate change, contemporary political theory, and international relations. It might sound peculiar to some, but I am fascinated by the study of politics.

My research draws on contemporary political thought and critical theory to consider how we cope with climate change and environmental injustice. I am curious about what it means for politics and what it means to be human during a moment of massive and catastrophic environmental change.

As a professor at SD Mines, I cover all the political science courses including American Political Issues, Political Ideologies, American Government, and Introduction to International Relations. Next semester I am excited to teach Environmental Law and Policy, and in the Fall of 2024, I look forward to teaching the Politics of Nature and Technology.

What’s one of your favorite courses, topics, or specific texts to teach? Why?

While I do not have a favorite course yet, I love teaching about political ideologies as well as the intersection between politics and the environment. This semester I have enjoyed watching students make connections between the functions (or dysfunctions) of American politics and more local or personal political issues. American politics is like a Rube Goldberg machine—or a chain-reaction machine designed to perform simple tasks in an absurdly indirect manner—where political institutions affect the functioning of the whole in bizarre and surprising ways. Whenever someone proposes or enacts a solution to a political problem, it alters and affects all the intermediary chain reactions, in a way that can be difficult to understand for years or decades. It has been fun to explore this conundrum with students.