EIU Department of Political Science

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Melinda A Mueller, Department Chair and Professor, Political Science

Office: 2341 - Coleman Hall
Phone: 217-581-2523
Email: mamueller@eiu.edu

Dr. Mueller (B.A. Susquehanna University, M.A., Ph.D. Rochester) serves as the department chair. She received the 2008 Faculty Laureate for undergraduate general education teaching, the 2009 Teaching Excellence Award in the College of Sciences, and Achievement and Contribution Awards.

Professor Mueller teaches courses in American Politics and Public Policy. She regularly directs undergraduate and graduate independent studies, capstones, and theses in the area of women and politics, public policy, and interest groups. She primarily conducts research on gender and politics, focusing on questions of descriptive and substantive policy representation. Her publications include a book chapter on "soccer moms" and voting, in Engaging the Public: How the Government and Media Can Reinvigorate American Democracy and a chapter on gender, campaigning and Twitter in Social Media and Politics, co-authored with students, and a literature review on women and U.S. politics in Choice. She has a chapter on Teddy Roosevelt's rhetoric and conservationism in From the Bully Pulpit: Presidential Rhetoric, Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy. She has also published in PS: Political Science & Politics, The Thomas Jefferson Law Review, The U.S. Government and the Environment, and Managing Environmental Policies: A Casebook. 

Spring 2022 Office Hours

• Monday 1-2:30 pm, Tuesday/Thursday 10:45-noon, and by appointment

Spring 2022 Schedule

• PLS 4763/Environmental Politics & Policy, TR 9:30-10:45 am
• Administrative and chair meetings Wednesday and Friday mornings

Frequently Taught Courses

• PLS 3903 -- Women & Politics
• PLS 3723 -- Political Behavior
• PLS 4600 -- Political Science Capstone
• PLS 4763 -- Environmental Politics & Policy