Sarah Brown

Faculty
  • Assistant Professor of Political Science

Sarah Brown Headshot

 

Campus Service

Maryland General Assembly Internship Coordinator

My research examines the relationship between material spaces, identity, and politics. I study the impact of buildings and infrastructure on civic agency and political participation, as well as activist attempts to achieve political change by changing material spaces. One of my main projects focuses on local and global feminist movements that have destroyed, reformed, built or reimagined spaces to express or extend political freedom. I also work on education and citizenship, and political efficacy and activism in a variety of contexts.

 


Education

  • Ph.D., Political Science, University of Colorado 2025
  • M.A., University of Colorado, Political Science, 2021
  • M.S.S., University of Colorado, Social Science, Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies, 2019
  • B.A., Womens Gender Studies, International Relations, American University, 2010


Academic Expertise

  • Politics of Space and Place
  • Social Movements
  • Feminist Theory
  • Identity and Politics
  • Politics of Education

In my courses on U.S. Politics, I work to (1) expand my students' understanding of what "counts" as politics, (2) cultivate investment and sense of efficacy in both the classroom and in the political world, and (3) encourage student involvement in civic and political life. Students taking my courses will develop an understanding of the American political landscape that is informed by political theory, activism, and empirical political science research. They will learn through a student-centered model of education that builds student consciousness through dialogue, democratizes relationships in the classroom, and emphasizes the co-creation of knowledge to encourage students to be critical creative thinkers who act in the world.

 

Graduate Part Time Instructor in Political Science, University of Colorado Boulder, 2022-2025

Instructor, Front Range Community College, 2024

Teaching Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Colorado Boulder, 2023-2024

Brown, Sarah, and Tamar Malloy. 2025. “Engaged or Obedient? Racially Differentiated Models of Democratic Education.” The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 10, no. 2: 555–79. 

Benedum, Michelle, Sarah Brown, Tyler Garrett, and Sarah Sohkey. 2023. “Learning Together: Experimental Evidence on Promoting Collaboration and Connections in Fully Remote Classes.” PS: Political Science and Politics 56, no 3: 438-443. 

Graduate Part Time Instructor Excellence Award, 2025

Best Should Teach Award, 2024

Justice, Equity, and Inclusion Teaching Award, 2023

2024 ASCEND Award for Diverse and Inclusive Curricular Design, 2023

Courses Taught at Washington College:

  • POL 102: American Government and Politics
  • FYS: Place, Power, and Politics

Additional Previous Teaching Experience:

  • American Political Thought
  • Modern Political Ideologies
  • Introduction to Comparative Politics
  • Western Political Thought
  • Theories of Identity
  • Ethics