A longtime Maxwell School faculty member has taken the helm as chair of the Political Science Department. Seth Jolly, associate professor of political science, began the post on Jan. 1.

With Maxwell since 2008, Jolly teaches courses on European politics, quantitative methods, comparative political parties, ethnic conflict and the European Union. His research focuses on the interaction of political institutions and political parties in Europe.

Jolly has frequently shared his expertise in panel discussions and other engagements at Maxwell. He has participated in a weekly speaker series organized by the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration and has given several talks for the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

In addition, Jolly has held numerous leadership roles within Maxwell. He served as director of graduate studies in the Political Science Department for five years and led the Future Professoriate Program. He serves on the Graduate Faculty Council, is an advisory board member for the master of arts in international relations program, and has served on the curriculum committee, the Coronat Scholars committee, and on multiple job search committees.

Since 2010, Jolly has served as one of the principal investigators for the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), which collects expert assessments of party positions on a variety of issues, including left-right ideology, European integration and immigration. The survey helps scholars understand ideological positions and policy positions across 32 countries in Europe and, more recently, in Latin America.

His book, "The European Union and the Rise of Regionalist Parties" (2015, University of Michigan Press), explores how European integration affects regionalist parties. His research has been published in numerous journals including European Union Politics, Political Science Research Methods, the Journal of European Public Policy and the Journal of Politics.

“I could not think of a better person to lead the Political Science Department,” says Jolly’s predecessor, Shana Kushner Gadarian, professor of political science and associate dean of research at Maxwell. “I’m confident that Seth will continue to support the department as faculty produce policy-relevant research and teach innovative new courses.”

By Jessica Youngman