Jill LockeFaculty

Professor in Political Science and James McPherson Endowed Chair in American History and Interim Director, Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies

Professor Jill Locke came to Gustavus in 2000 and teaches a range of courses in the history of political thought, democratic theory, and feminist theory. 

Professor Locke is also the author of Democracy and the Death of Shame: Political Equality and Social Disturbance (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and co-editor (with Dr. Eileen Hunt) of Feminist Interpretations of Alexis de Tocqueville (Penn State University Press, 2008). She has presented her work on shame and shamelessness at universities and colleges throughout the US and Europe, specifically the University of Amsterdam, University of Jyväskylä (Finland), University of Oslo, University of Southern Denmark, University of Vienna, London School of Economics, Macalester College, and Minnesota State University (Mankato, MN). 

Professor Locke's work on shame and her concept of "unashamed citizenship" has figured prominently in Scandinavian teaching and research on literature, affect, and democratizing processes since the publication of Democracy and the Death of Shame in 2016. She is part of a multi-year project at the University of Olso and was in residence in Oslo during the Spring 2022 semester. 

Professor Locke is working on a second book, Girl Heroes: Why Girls Shouldn't Have to Save Us, about high-profile girl activists who are praised as the vanguard of social change. She has presented from this project at McMaster University, the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, University of Oslo, University of Copenhagen, and University College Cork. She has recently published two related pieces: "Chronicle of The Girls' Bureau of Freedom and Uplift," co-authored with Dr. Ainsley LeSure (Political Theory, 50th Anniversary issue); and "Beyond Heroes and Hostility: Greta Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate, and the Transnational Politics of Girl Power," (NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research). Her Fall GWS-380 colloquium course, "The Politics and Culture of 'Girl Power,'" is organized around these themes. 

Her third (and final?) book will be a political theory of US post-Civil War Reconstruction, the promise and destruction of which has framed her work on shame and schools. 

Professor Locke has held fellowships from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation (1999-2000), the Center for Ethics and Public Affairs at Tulane University (2006-07), and the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, where she participated in Professor Danielle Allen's Egalitarianisms seminar (2014-15). She won the 2017 Gustavus Adolphus College award for Faculty Scholarly Accomplishment.  

She regularly speaks to media about participatory democracy and gender and politics, particularly abortion and reproductive care. 

Originally from rainy Seattle, Professor Locke has fully embraced the pleasures of Minnesota  -- cold, sunny winters and all. 

Education

B.A. Whitman College; M.A. and Ph.D. Rutgers University



Courses Taught

Past
Synonym Title Times Taught Terms Taught
POL-160 Political and Legal Thinking 28 2023/SP, 2022/FA, 2020/FA, 2020/SP, 2019/FA, 2019/SP, 2018/FA, 2018/SP, 2017/FA, 2017/SP, 2016/FA, 2016/SP, 2015/FA, 2013/FA, 2013/SP, 2012/FA, 2011/FA, 2010/FA, 2010/SP, 2009/FA, 2009/SP, and 2005/FA
POL-285 Sex, Power, and Politics 16 2023/FA, 2022/FA, 2020/FA, 2019/FA, 2018/FA, 2017/FA, 2016/FA, 2015/FA, 2013/FA, 2012/FA, 2011/FA, 2011/SP, 2010/FA, 2005/FA, and 2004/FA
POL-399 Senior Seminar 13 2023/SP, 2021/SP, 2020/SP, 2019/SP, 2017/SP, 2014/SP, 2003/FA, 2003/SP, 2002/FA, 2002/SP, 2001/FA, 2001/SP, and 2000/FA
GWS-285 Sex, Power, Politics 10 2023/FA, 2022/FA, 2020/FA, 2019/FA, 2018/FA, 2017/FA, 2016/FA, 2015/FA, and 2013/FA
POL-275 Politics of Race and Racism 8 2023/SP, 2021/SP, 2016/SP, 2014/SP, 2013/SP, 2012/SP, and 2006/SP
POL-380 Feminist Political Thought 8 2020/SP, 2016/SP, 2014/SP, 2012/SP, 2006/SP, 2003/SP, 2002/SP, and 2001/SP
POL-244 ST:Resisting Racism 7 2018/FA, 2017/FA, 2016/FA, 2015/FA, 2013/SP, 2008/FA, and 2001/FA
POL-175 Classics in Political Thought: Modern 7 2005/SP, 2003/SP, 2002/SP, and 2001/SP
POL-165 Classics in Political Thought: Ancient and Medieval 7 2004/FA, 2003/FA, 2002/FA, 2001/FA, and 2000/FA
GWS-380 Coll:Culture/Pol/Girl Power 5 2023/FA, 2022/FA, 2020/FA, 2019/FA, and 2018/FA
POL-099 Senior Thesis 5 2011/SP, 2010/SP, 2009/SP, 2005/SP, and 2003/FA
POL-344 Special Topic: Democratic Principles 5 2011/SP, 2010/SP, 2009/SP, 2008/FA, and 2004/FA
POL-268 Career Exploration 4 2006/JN, 2005/JN, and 2002/JN
POL-280 Democracy and Citizenship 2 2005/SP and 2003/FA
NDL-203 Politics, Literature, and Arts of New York City 2 2004/JN and 2003/JN
POL-360 Seminar: Politics and Sexuality 2 2002/FA and 2001/FA
POL-385 Feminist Political Thought 1 2024/SP
GWS-385 Feminist Political Thought 1 2024/SP
GWS-298 Chal Sem: Abortion 2022 1 2024/SP
POL-298 Chal Sem: Abortion 2022 1 2024/SP
POL-282 Tocqueville: America 1 2005/JN
POL-390 Constitutional Law 1 2001/SP
POL-290 Jurisprudence 1 2000/FA
Courses prior to Spring semester 1999 are not displayed.