Political Science Faculty & Staff

• Ph.D., Public Policy and Administration, Mississippi State University 2012
• M.A., Political Science, Mississippi State University 2008
• B.A., Government, Nicholls State University 2005

• Phone: 337-482-6162
• Email: beth.rauhaus@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 111

Bio

Dr. Rauhaus’ work focuses on public policy and administration, while specifically
examining issues of diversity and gender representation in the public sector. Her
research focuses on social equity and gender issues including bureaucratic
representation, leadership, work-life balance, and equity in public policies and
administration. She has published her research in Public Administration Review,
State and Local Government Review, Administrative Theory & Praxis, and
Journal of Public Affairs Education, among other outlets. She currently serves
on the editorial board for the American Review of Public Administration,
Administrative Theory & Praxis, Journal of Public Affairs Education, and Public
Personnel Management. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the
Southeastern Conference for Public Administration (SECoPA).

Contact Information

• Phone: 337-482-6171
• Email: matthew.burnett@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 112

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science, Texas A&M University, 2023
• B.A., Political Science, University of Kentucky, 2018

Contact Information

• Phone:
• Email: brenna.armstrong@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 118

Bio

Dr. Armstrong’s research focuses on elite behavior, political economy, and
comparative political institutions. Specifically, her research explores how
politicians’ personal characteristics shape their strategies in office and
how institutional change may alter these strategies. Currently, her work
focuses on the role of gender and opposition party membership and
how it influences democratic behavior of elites. She has published
research in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics,
the Journal of Latin American Politics and Society, and American Politics
Research. For more information about Dr. Armstrong, you can view her CV
here.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Missouri, 2024 (expected)
• B.A., University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2019

Contact Information

• Phone:
• Email: jacob.authement@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 102

Bio

Jacob was born and raised in South Louisiana and has previous experience
working for both state and local government in Louisiana. Having previously
graduated a Ragin’ Cajun, he returned to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
as an instructor in the fall of 2024. He researches and teaches courses in
the field of American politics, primarily focusing on American institutions,
state politics and legislatures, and legislative behavior. Jacob’s research on
discrimination in public housing agencies appears in the Journal of Behavioral
Public Administration, and he has contributed to two chapters in Readings in
American Politics, an American government textbook. In addition to academic
publications, Jacob is regularly quoted or appeared in video on matters of state
politics and elections in several news outlets. In his personal time, Jacob enjoys
listening to music, rooting for the STL Cardinals, or playing a video game… or
probably a combination of all three. For more information about Mr. Authement,
please view his CV here.

• B.A., Cameron University, 2003
• M.P.A., Unversity of Oklahoma, 2005
• Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 2014 American Politics, International Relations

• Email: ted.brown@louisiana.edu

Dr. Brown teaches courses in the areas of American politics, including
institutions and behavior as well as international relations. His research
focuses on the intersection of international relations and political theory.
He has published on political science in popular culture, including on
Starship Troopers and Ender's Game. In his spare time, Ted enjoys live
music, rooting for the University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M football, and
wondering if the Oklahoma City Thunder is finished with their tankathon.

• M.A., Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1991, 1996
• B.A., St. John's College, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1990
• Political Philosophy, International Relations, Politics and Literature,
  Comparative Politics

• Phone: 337-482-5692
• Email: bfrost@louisiana.edu
• Office: FGM 302

Bio
Bryan-Paul Frost is the co-translator, contributor and/or co-editor of
Philosophy, History and Tyranny: Reexamining the Debate between
Leo Strauss and Alexandre Kojève (with Timothy W. Burns, Baylor University;
SUNY Press 2016); The Political Theory of Aristophanes: Explorations in
Poetic Wisdom (with Jeremy J. Mhire, LA Tech; SUNY Press, 2013); Political
Reason in the Age of Ideology: Essays in Honor of Raymond Aron (with
Daniel J. Mahoney, Assumption College; Transaction, 2007); History of
American Political Thought (with Jeffrey Sikkenga, Ashland University; Lexington
Books, 2003; revised and expanded second edition, 2019); and Alexandre
Kojève’s Outline of a Phenomenology of Right (with Robert Howse, NYU School
of Law; Rowman and Littlefield, 2000). In addition to the above themes and
authors, Frost has also published articles on Aristotle, Cato the Younger, Cicero
and Roman civic education, Rousseau, and Tocqueville and Emerson.

Education

Contact Information

• Phone:
• Email: david.hughes@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 120

Bio

David Hughes joined the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the fall of
2024 as an associate professor of political science. He earned his
undergraduate degree from the University of Montevallo in 2011 and his
Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 2016. His expertise is in the area
of American law and courts with a special emphasis on judicial institutions
and the separation of powers. Dr. Hughes also has an expertise in the
politics of the American South. He has published his work in peer-reviewed
outlets such as Political Behavior, the Journal of Law and Courts, and Political
Research Quarterly. To learn more about Dr Hughes, please see his CV here.

• Ph.D., Harvard University, 2004
• M.Phil., Cambridge University, 1998
• B.A., Brown University, 1996
  Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, Public Law

• Phone: 337-482-5911
• Email: maloy@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 104

Bio

Prof. Maloy teaches courses and conducts research on multiple topics related
to democratic ideas and institutions. He is currently the POLS department’s
program co-ordinator for the International Relations concentration.  His most
recent book, Smarter Ballots (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), offers a realist theory of
election reform and democratic accountability, and in 2020 he conducted voting
experiments on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and other ballot types with support
from the Electoral Reform Research Group at New America. Other research in
progress includes a book project on “Democracy after Climate Change.
 

• Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 2001
• J.D., Southern Illinois University, 1994
• M.A., Eastern Illinois University, 1991
• B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988 Civil Liberties,
  Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Public Law and Judicial Politics,
  American Government

• Phone: (337) 482-6164
• Email: swanson@louisiana.edu
• Office: MO 119

Bio
Between earning a J.D. and Ph.D., Rick worked from 1994 to 1996 as a law
clerk to Justice James A. Knecht of the Illinois Appellate Court. Ever since
obtaining his Ph.D. focusing on public law and judicial politics, he has been
at UL teaching pre-law courses in the Department of Political Science, and
served as a past head of the Political Science Department head for three
years. His legal expertise is in constitutional law, especially civil rights and
civil liberties. His articles and essays analyzing legal concepts and judicial
voting behavior have been published in peer-reviewed journals, law reviews,
and legal encyclopedias. He has also authored two textbooks:  The Big Picture
of U.S. National Government, published by UL Press, and The Lanahan
Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning, published by Lanahan Publishers.
His current research involves the civil rights history of South-Central Louisiana.
He has given numerous community presentations on the topic and recently
wrote a chapter titled “The Politics of Racial Memory in Louisiana,” contained
in The Party is Over: Louisiana Politics in the 21st Century, edited by Pearson
Cross and Christie Maloyed, published by LSU Press. In his personal time,
Rick communes with nature, philosophizes about the beauty and wonder of the
universe, and tries to live life to the fullest, all while sharing these experiences
with friends, family, his 5 dogs, and especially his amazing wife Anne.