Political Science professor recognized as Boehlke Fellow

McDaniel College Political Science Professor Christianna Nichols Leahy has been selected as a Charles A. Boehlke, Jr., Engaged Faculty Fellow.

A McDaniel faculty member is chosen as a Boehlke Fellow for providing exceptional mentorship and experiential-learning opportunities to students, especially within the areas of independent undergraduate research, community-supported learning, internship support, and study-away experiences.

Leahy, who has taught in the college’s Department of Political Science and International Studies for over 35 years, is an expert in human rights, revolutions, international humanitarian law, and European politics. She serves as a faculty mentor for many students and continues to maintain relationships with them as alumni. She has been recognized for Distinguished Teaching by the American Political Science Association and earned the college’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1994.

For more than 20 years, she has traveled with students to the Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation, which engages students in discussions and debates that are both current and topical on the European Union (EU) agenda. She has also taken students abroad through Jan Term courses in Ireland, Berlin, Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan and has taught at McDaniel’s European campus in Budapest, Hungary, and lectured at the Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles and at Utrecht in the Netherlands.

She has been a Summer Faculty Fellow at the United States Institute for Peace & The International Institute for Humanitarian Law, a Summer Faculty Fellow at the East-West Center, and she is a former board member of Amnesty International. Leahy is frequently called upon to give public lectures and panels, as well as to deliver keynote remarks at national and international conferences. Her recent peer reviewed journal articles include “Whither the Solidarity: Opportunity in Crisis and the Future of European Integration” and “The Subterranean Politics Blues: Contesting Third Wave Consolidation in Portugal and Greece,” both published in The Athens Journal of Social Sciences.

Leahy holds both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Comparative Politics from Georgetown University. She earned a bachelor’s degree from American University.

The Charles A. Boehlke, Jr., Engaged Faculty Fellows program was established in 2017 with a gift from Charles A. Boehlke, Jr., a 1978 alum of the college and current member of the McDaniel Board of Trustees. A McDaniel faculty member is selected annually for the award in recognition of their exceptional commitment to their students, not only in classrooms and research labs but also with career and internship experiences.

An Engaged Faculty Fellow receives a stipend of $5,000 per year or a course release, plus up to an additional $2,000 per year for professional development or other engagement-related work. Each Fellow is selected for a two-year period and is not eligible to reapply for a five-year period.