Biography
Kerstin Hamann is the Senior Associate Dean in the College of Sciences and Pegasus Professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs (SPSIA) at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, a Master’s in Political Science, and a Master’s in West European Studies (all from Washington University). She previously served as SPSIA Director (2011-2021). She twice served as Vice President of the American Political Science Association (APSA). Hamann was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the APSA Section on Political Science Education and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Political Science Education.
Hamann is a recipient of the UCF Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (campus-wide) and an Excellence in Professional Service Award (campus-wide), as well as Research Incentive Awards, teaching awards, and university-wide Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Awards. She served as Provost’s Senior Faculty Fellow, as a Fellow at the UCF Teaching Academy, and as Faculty Fellow to the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning. In the profession, she has served on the governing bodies of several associations and has chaired and served on numerous APSA and SPSA committees. She serves on the editorial board of several academic journals and a book series.
Hamann’s research interests focus broadly on comparative politics, especially politics in Western Europe with a focus on organized labor and Spanish politics. Her recent research analyzes the political determinants of child marriage globally. She has also published extensively in the field of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Research Areas
Research Areas
Hamann’s research interests focus broadly on comparative politics, especially politics in Western Europe and Spain. Most recently, she has published a study on child marriage in the International Journal of Human Rights. Her earlier research focuses on organized labor and Spanish politics. Her research has analyzed the causes and consequences of union inclusion and exclusion in reforming policies in Western Europe; this project considers the political determinants of including unions in policy reforms through social pacts as well as the consequence of union exclusion resulting in general strikes. Her books include The Politics of Industrial Relations: Labor Unions in Spain and Parties, Elections, and Policy Reforms in Western Europe: Voting for Social Pacts, with J. Kelly; and Democracy and Institutional Development: Spain in Comparative Theoretical Perspective, co-edited with B.N. Field. She has published widely in academic journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, International Journal of Human Rights, Political Studies, West European Politics, Party Politics, British Journal of Industrial Relations, European Journal of Industrial Relations, and others.
Hamann has also published extensively in the field of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, with a focus on online education, assessment, and most recently, on cognitive factors linked to student success in higher education. This research program includes her book Assessment in Political Science, co-edited with M. Deardorff and J. Ishiyama, as well as numerous book chapters and articles in journals such as College Teaching, Journal of Political Science Education, Journal of Latinos in Education, Teaching in Higher Education, European Political Science, Education Sciences, Politics, and the International Journal of Research in Education and Sciences, among others.
