Melissa Brown
Associate Professor
Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice
EMAIL: mbrown@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-669
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 220-1220
Expertise
Military Recruiting, International Relations, Gender and the Armed Forces, Feminist Theory
Degrees
- Ph.D. Rutgers University, Political Science, 2007
- B.A. Amherst College, Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies, 1993
Courses Taught
- The history, development, and intellectual origin of American government are studied and analyzed. Special consideration is given to the structure and operation of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, and the role of government and politics in a modern industrial society.
- This course uses gender as a lens of analysis for studying politics, with an emphasis on the United States. It will explore how participation, including voting, campaigning, office holding, and activism, has been gendered and how ideals of citizenship have differed for men and women, taking into account the ways that gender intersects with other categories such as race and ethnicity. The course will cover the historical development of men'A?s and women's political roles, the ways gender inequality has been sustained and contested in various political contexts, and selected current issues and debates.
- This course considers the basic factors involved in international relations. The components of nationalism, the state system, and the concept of politics as the crucial form of interstate relationship are discussed and examined. A systematic study is made of capabilities, goals and methods of interstate relations, considering the underlying principles, forces, patterns, and problems which historically characterize international organization and the political systems of the world. Prerequisite: POL 100 or POL 110
- This introductory level, interdisciplinary course explores the basic concepts and perspectives of Gender & Women's Studies from an intersectional angle; that is, examining the ways in which gender intersects with race, ethnicity, nationality, class, sexuality, sexual identity, disability, and other categories. The concepts of gender - the roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a society considers appropriate for men and women - privilege and oppression, intersectionality, and feminist praxis will be at the core of this course. After a background in the history and significance of Gender & Women's Studies as a field of study, you will learn to critically examine how institutionalized privilege and oppression shape individual lives and intersecting identity categories.
Research and Projects
Publications
- Enlisting Masculinity: the Construction of Gender in US Military Recruiting Advertising during the All-Volunteer Force, Oxford University Press
- “A Woman in the Army Is Still a Woman”: Representations of Women in US Military Recruiting Advertisements for the All-Volunteer Force, Journal of Women, Politics, & Policy
- “Transitioning to an All-Volunteer Force” in The Routledge History of Gender, War, and the US Military, edited by Kara Dixon Vuic, Routledge
- “Gender and State Militaries” in The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Security, edited by Caron E. Gentry, Laura J. Shepherd, Laura Sjoberg, Routledge
