Professor Jill Locke has taught at Gustavus since 2000.
Political science professor Jill Locke has been named the James McPherson Endowed Chair in American History. His three-year appointment to the position began on June 1.
The chair he was gifted by Dr. James M. McPherson ’58, professor emeritus at Princeton University and renowned historian who won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for his book, Battle cry of freedom: the era of civil war. McPherson gave $1 million to Gustavus in 2019 to fund the chair.
Locke is the second Gustavus faculty member appointed to the position. The first was Professor of History Greg Kaster (the position alternating between the Departments of History and Political Science) and one of the many things Kaster accomplished during his time in the McPherson Chair was to launch the Podcast Learning for Life @ Gustavus.
Locke said he sees his appointment as an opportunity to continue Kaster’s excellent work in connecting Gustavus with the public. “I was very excited and honored to receive the McPherson Chair,” she said. “It allows me to build on my work in American political thought and, in particular, my research on the civil rights movement and post-Civil War reconstruction. I’m spending the summer brainstorming how to get the most out of this position and the resources it offers.”
Locke has been at Gustavus since 2000. She currently teaches introductory political theory, gender and politics, race and politics, as well as advanced seminars in both political science and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies related to her current research on youth policy. in particular, the role of girls and the expectations of young activists to be political vanguards. Locke is writing a book on this subject of “girl heroes” and recently published, with Ainsley LeSurea speculative essay about a futurist Girls office. Locke’s others academic work so far has focused primarily on the politics of shame and shamelessness, and the concept of ‘shameless citizenship’, culminating in his highly acclaimed book, Democracy and the death of shame. This work has inspired transnational conversations about democratic citizenship and is its conceptual basis “Citizenship Without Shame: Minority Literary Voices in Contemporary Scandinavia.” a multi-year project at the University of Oslo (funded by the Research Council of Norway). Locke is also the co-editor of Feminist interpretations of Alexis de Tocqueville.
McPherson, who grew up in Saint Peter, is a longtime historian who has written more than 20 books and served as president of the American Historical Association and the Society of American Historians. After graduating from Gustavus, he earned his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and spent his entire academic career at Princeton, from 1962 to 2004. When he first established the endowed chair at Gustavus, he said he did so as a thank you for the teaching and mentoring he received on the Hill. “I want to help Gustavus do for current and future students what the College did for me all those years ago,” he said in 2019.
Dr. James M. McPherson ’58
University Provost and Dean Brenda Kelly said Locke’s selection for the McPherson Chair recognizes his many contributions to Gustavus and his field. “Jill Locke was selected for this endowed chair because of her outstanding academic work and experience in political theory, both nationally and internationally,” said Kelly. “This experience in feminist political theory, democratic theory, and the history of political thought influence her teaching in courses such as ‘Sex, power and politics’, ‘Political and legal thought’ and ‘Feminist political thought’. Professor Locke’s pedagogical approach, which broadens perspective and provides students with the tools to critically analyze our democracy and the United States Congress, fulfills the intent and promise of the McPherson Endowed Chair.”
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Contact with the media: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510
