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By Christian Feuerstein 

Elizabeth K. Markovits, professor of politics and director of the Teaching and Learning Initiative, has been appointed to serve as associate dean of faculty. Her two-year term is effective immediately. 

Markovits joins Associate Dean of Faculty Gary Gillis and Dorothy Mosby, interim dean of faculty in being responsible for supporting and overseeing the academic mission of the College. Markovits will focus on faculty development, assessment and faculty work-life balance, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She will also support departments and programs in the social sciences. 

“I’m excited to join the team in the Dean of Faculty’s office to ensure our faculty and staff have the support to continue doing what they do best — providing an incredible classroom experience for all our students, even as those classrooms become virtual spaces for the time being,” Markovits said. “I am confident that through a combination of listening, collaboration and creative thinking, we will be able to come out the other side of this moment stronger than ever.”

Markovits’ scholarship and teaching focus on political theory, from ancient Greek thought to contemporary feminist and democratic theory. She conducts research on women and equity in the workplace, as well as on rhetoric, politics, truthfulness and equity across generations. 

She is the author of “Future Freedoms: Intergenerational Justice, Democratic Theory, and Ancient Greek Tragedy and Comedy” and “The Politics of Sincerity: Plato, Frank Speech, and Democratic Judgment.” Markovits currently serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Political Science, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Political Research Quarterly, and was the executive codirector for the interdisciplinary Association for Political Theory. 

A 2014 winner of the Mount Holyoke College Faculty Award for Teaching, she has taken leadership roles in a number of curricular initiatives across the College, including the , Senior Symposium, Careers in Public Service, Nexus: Curriculum to Career, and The Lynk. 

“My work in the Teaching and Learning Initiative and the First-Year Seminars program helped me see the huge range of faculty needs and teaching styles across the College, while my work with the American Association of University Professors and on the Faculty Conference Committee allowed me to work on issues around equity and inclusion, particularly around work-life and benefits issues,” Markovits said. “I hope that those experiences and skills can be particularly useful as we navigate this new landscape.”