Edward G. DeClair Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Director, Westover Honors Program
Dr. DeClair teaches a variety of courses in the sub-fields of international relations and comparative politics. His teaching focuses on both Europe and Africa with a special interest on the European Union. Dr. DeClair is the author of Politics on the Fringe: The People, Policies and Organization of the French National Front (Duke University Press, 1999) and many articles on European politics and international education. Currently he is working on an undergraduate text on the European Union.
(Languages: French, German)
Sabita Manian Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Department Chair
International Relations & Political Science
Dr. Manian, a relatively recent addition to the International Relations program, comes to the LC faculty with teaching and research expertise in the regional politics and economics of Asia (both South and East Asia) and Europe. She also teaches for the History Program. Dr. Manian’s interests revolve around issues of international security, the politics of extremist violence, and regional organizations. She is currently working on a book-length manuscript (Security Politics of China, India, and Pakistan), while completing an article on Chinese security politics in the Circum-Caribbean.
(Languages: Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, German)
Marek Payerhin Ph.D.
Associate Professor of International Relations and Political Science
Dr. Payerhin’s research and teaching interests in international relations and comparative politics include social movements and grassroots activism, terrorism, globalization, political communication, and environmental policy, with regional specialization in Europe (both Western and Eastern) and the Americas. Dr. Payerhin has run a number of computer-assisted foreign policy simulations and has taken his students on trips from Southeast Asia to the Arctic Circle in Alaska. He is currently working on a book-length project on the globalization of radical environmental protest and on an article on framing theory and social mobilization.
(Languages: Polish, Russian, Italian)
David Richards Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of International Relations and Political Science
Dr. Richards teaches courses in international relations and comparative politics including international relations theory, U.S. foreign policy, and Latin America. His interests include U.S. policy in the Americas, nationalism in the Caribbean, and the politics of ethnic diversity in the Americas. He is currently working on several articles on U.S.-Caribbean policy and a Caribbean politics textbook.
(Languages: Spanish)
Associated Faculty
Daniel G. Lang Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
Dean, School of Communication and the Arts
Dr. Lang teaches courses in political theory, international relations, and U.S. foreign policy. He is a scholar on the foreign policy of the early republic; has published on the topic of presidential transitions; and is currently working on a book on international commitments and democratic change.
(Languages: German, French)
Daniel Messerschmidt Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
A former president of the Virginia Association of Economists and the Piedmont World Trade Committee, Dr. Messerschmidt has a special interest in Japanese politics and economics. He teaches courses in micro- and macro-economics as well as the IR-required course on International Economic Policy. His published work has appeared in a wide variety of peer-reviewed journals.
(Language: Spanish)
Nichole Sanders Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History
The newest addition to the Lynchburg faculty, Dr. Sanders specializes in Latin American history with an emphasis on Mexico and the role of women in Mexican society.
(Language: Spanish)
Charles Shull, M.A.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Mr. Shull’s interest in the International Relations program reflects his sociology and anthropology background and is linked to his academic expertise in Japanese culture, society, and politics. Having traveled and studied in Japan on multiple occasions, Mr. Shull is able to introduce his students to Japan as it is and not only how it appears. His IR-related courses are Japan: Businessmen, Warriors, and Gods; Material Japan, a Special Topics course; and Contemporary Japan, a team taught course with Dr. Messerschmidt. (Language: Russian)