Prof. Heather L. Tafel

Assistant Professor
1128 Au Sable Hall
Grand Valley State University
1 Campus Drive
Allendale, MI 49401
616-331-8511
tafelh@gvsu.edu

Education
Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005
B.A. in International Studies and Modern Languages (German & Spanish), Eckerd College, 1993

Courses
PLS 103 Issues in World Politics
PLS 211 International Relations
PLS 282 Government & Politics of Russia & Eastern Europe
(to be replaced 2007-08 by PLS 382 Politics of Post-Communist Europe & PLS 385 Russian & Post-Soviet Politics)
PLS 339 Comparative Democratization

Publications

“‘Old Carrots and New Sticks: Labor Strategies Toward Economic Reform in Eastern Europe and Latin America.” (with Dexter S. Boniface) Comparative Politics 25 (April 2003)

Conference Presentations

“The Federal Gamble in Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and Spain,” Midwest American Political Science Association Conference, Chicago, 20-23 April 2006

“Democracy Demotion in Russia: The European Union’s Conflicting Priorities,” International Studies Association Conference, San Diego, 23-25 March 2006

“The Federal Gamble: The Russian Federation in Comparative Perspective,” Midwest American Political Science Association Conference, Chicago, 15-18 April 2004

Biography

I joined the GVSU political science faculty first as a visiting instructor in 2003 and then as a member of the tenure-track faculty in 2004. Before moving to Michigan, I lived in Urbana-Champaign, where I did my graduate work at the University of Illinois, and in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I did my undergraduate work at a liberal arts college called Eckerd College. I've also lived and studied in Germany, Russia, Austria, and Lesotho (southern Africa).

My research interests are comparative democratization, Russian and East European politics, and democracy promotion. I wrote my dissertation on Russian regime change and federalism, and I am currently working on three different articles for publication from my dissertation work. In addition, I am beginning a new project that investigates the EU's democracy promotion policies toward Russia. I hope to expand that into a larger comparative study that compares the EU and US democracy promotion policies.