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The 2022 midterm elections are right around the corner, and a slew of high-profile races, including some in Colorado, remain nail-bitingly close. One question, in particular, has left many political pundits scratching their heads: How big of a role will the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in June to strike down Roe v. Wade play in motivating voters to cast a ballot? 

Michaele Ferguson is the author of the books Sharing Democracy and W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender and an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at CU 麻豆影院 who studies feminism and democratic theory.

Ferguson talks about Roe v. Wade and the Nov. 8 election, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and gender in politics, and why senate candidate Joe O鈥橠ea has staked out a moderate stance on abortion.

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Professor Michaele Ferguson was one of two faculty members across the University of Colorado system awarded the title of  in 2020. Professor Ferguson was recently featured on CU Connections where she was asked about her unique teaching style, future book and research projects, and what it means to be awarded the Presidents Teaching Scholar at CU. 

Learn more about Michaele Ferguson's interview here : 

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The heckling is real, the riots just acknowledged, and they are part of an innovative teaching method called , which was initiated at Barnard College in New York. Ferguson, an associate professor of political science at the 麻豆影院, usually teaches at least one class a semester involving these games, which require students to play characters from the past."

Professor Michaele Ferguson was recently highlighted in the Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine for her innovative teaching method and style. Read more about Dr. Ferguson's classes here!

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The Political Science Department would like to congradulate Professor Boulding, Professor Ferguson, and Professor Young in recieving the 2017-2018 Marinus Smith Awards. We feel grateful to have such amazing staff members!

"The Marinus Smith Awards are presented each spring to nominated faculty, advisors and staff members who have made a positive impact on the lives of CU 麻豆影院 students. Submitting a nomination provides a meaningful way for students to say thank you to outstanding staff and faculty members who have taken the time to show care and concern for those they serve."

Click here to read more from CU 麻豆影院 Today. 

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Associate Professor

鈥淚 am an army brat. I actually spent most of my childhood living in Western Europe,鈥� Professor Ferguson says. Between the ages of three and 13, she lived in West Germany and the Netherlands. 鈥淚 was living outside the United States but reading news about it. We would get the Armed Forces鈥� newspaper, the Stars and Stripes, and my dad and I would argue over the kitchen table about the Iran Contra Affair, and whether Reagan was a good president or not. That was really fun.鈥�

Ferguson attributes her interest in politics to her early education. She grew up around people with many different nationalities and learned to speak French in her time abroad. 鈥淚t encouraged me to think about how societies could run completely differently than ours does in the US, and it gave me exposure to a lot of different ways of viewing the world and history.鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 until her father left the military that she moved to Colorado with her family. 鈥淚 hated it,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e moved to a suburban neighborhood where you had to be able to drive to get anywhere. When we lived in Holland, we lived in a small town and I could get on my bike as a kid and if my parents needed something for dinner, they could send one of us out. We didn鈥檛 need a driver's license or car.鈥�

The professor鈥檚 two older sisters eventually wen

鈥淲e were all here in the 80s, we all moved away, and now we鈥檙e all back. I would not have predicted that this is how my life would be at this point.鈥� 15 years later, Ferguson is still at the 麻豆影院, inspiring her students to engage in greater conversations.

鈥淗ow do you start to see yourself as a political agent?鈥� The ultimate question Professor Michaele Ferguson asks her students. 鈥淚 want students to be prepared for a life of engaged citizenship.鈥� Ferguson creates opportunities for her students to hold civil debates, organize political action, and learn how to apply timeless ideologies to relevant issues today.

Students in Ferguson鈥檚 Sex, Power, and Politics class design and implement their own political activism projects. She keeps her students鈥� visuals as examples for future classes she鈥檒l teach. Her show-and-tells include a #MeToo project students created: 鈥淭hey had a couple of cardboard boxes that they painted white and then wrote the hashtag MeToo on it. They had people in the UMC come and write their stories or just write MeToo on it if they weren鈥檛 comfortable sharing their experiences,鈥� Ferguson says, as she points to the different stories people shared on the poster. 鈥淭his is a very powerful way to raise people鈥檚 awareness of how pervasive sexual harassment and sexual assault are. But where does this take us beyond that?鈥�

鈥淚 want [students] to learn that they as ordinary citizens can actually start to create change through things they can do here on campus.鈥�

Professor Ferguson also teaches PSCI 2004 in political theory, but she adds a twist to it. She covers traditional ideologies including the big five: liberalism, conservatism, fascism, socialism, and anarchism. After spring break, however, Ferguson introduces feminism, white nationalism, anitfascism, Black Lives Matter and radical black thought into her course. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 just teach the traditional ideologies, as if there aren鈥檛 other ideas popping up in our political world. I have to teach what is happening right now, too, to prepare my students to understand the world we live in.鈥�

With passion and thoughtfulness, Professor Ferguson makes a difference in her students鈥� lives in her engaging and dynamic courses. Her outlook on teaching prepares students for more than just their careers; she is committed to creating spaces where students can think critically and apply their knowledge to political action.

鈥淧olitics means you have a vision of what the world should look like and you take a stand on something you want to change. If someone criticizes you, it doesn鈥檛 mean you have to be dug in about it, you just have to dig deeper.鈥�

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Journal of Political Ideologies, 22:3, 221-235, DOI: 10.1080/13569317.2017.1348705

Abstract

The emerging literature on neoliberal feminism appears to signal the revitalization of the study of feminist ideologies, suspended since the mid-1980s. However, it is argued here that scholars tend to conceptualize neoliberal feminism in a way that inhibits ideological analysis, as exemplified in Nancy Fraser鈥檚 Fortunes of Feminism. They take classifications of feminist political ideologies from the 1980s as representative of the only true feminisms, and thus view neoliberal feminism as a perversion, rather than an outgrowth, of earlier feminisms. This account of the emergence of neoliberal feminism is both historically inaccurate and politically problematic: it positions feminists as passive in the face of an overpowering neoliberal agency, and limits feminists鈥� capacity to imagine themselves as agents of political and ideological change. Building on Michael Freeden鈥檚 work on political ideologies, an alternative account of neoliberal feminism is offered, one that locates feminist agency in the production of new feminist ideologies.

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Theory & Event, Vol. 20, No. 1 Supplement, January 2017: 53-67.

Abstract

Feminists have criticized the election of President Trump as a failure of and for feminism, obscuring how his election signals the success of neoliberal feminism. Such feminist criticisms of Trump amplify rather than displace the dominance of neoliberal feminism, which is troubling because this is a deeply anti-political feminism that discourages the practice of political habits among feminists. I show how Pantsuit Nation and the Women鈥檚 March on Washington, while widely taken as signs of resurgent feminist organizing, exposed feminist political incapacity. Feminists should counter neoliberal feminism with an explicitly political feminism, one that embraces political judgment and collective action.

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Ferguson ML.  Hypatia. 31 (3) (August 2016): 687-703.

Abstract:
The central thesis of Susan Okin鈥檚 Justice, Gender, and the Family鈥攖hat the ideology of the traditional family is the linchpin of contemporary gender inequality in the US鈥攔emains significant more than a quarter-century after the book鈥檚 publication. On a political register, Okin鈥檚 insistence on structural analysis of gender inequality is an important corrective to recent mainstream feminist emphasis on individual women鈥檚 choices. On an academic register, her work reveals the incoherence of scholarly classifications of feminist theories as 鈥渓iberal feminist鈥� or 鈥渞adical feminist鈥� by confounding such distinctions. I argue that her thesis is best understood in relation to the early radical feminism of Juliet Mitchell鈥檚 Woman鈥檚 Estate, a book Okin praised. Placing Okin鈥檚 work in the context of its radical roots clarifies her 鈥渓inchpin thesis,鈥� but also reveals the limitations of her argument: in her emphasis on what Iris Young has termed the 鈥渄istributive paradigm of justice,鈥� Okin unnecessarily adopts a much narrower definition of the family than did Mitchell, and overestimates the influence of economic vulnerability after divorce on women鈥檚 capacity to exit marriage. I suggest modifications to her theory, and conclude by showing the continuing relevance of her argument for analyzing recent legal, policy, and demographic shifts.

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Third-year CU student Louise Vazquez makes it a priority to get to know her professors. The political science major aims to be prepared for first impressions 鈥� but things don鈥檛 always go according to plan.

 鈥淚 remember when I first talked to Professor Ferguson in one of her classes, I was really, really intimidated,鈥� said Vazquez. However, she was determined to make a connection with the political science professor, who was teaching her Survey of Western Political Thought class in the spring of

鈥淚 asked her: 鈥榙o you have any children?鈥� She was very polite, but she asked me why I would ask that,鈥� Vazquez said. 鈥淚 froze. I was like, I asked the wrong question!鈥�

As it turned out, Professor Michaele Ferguson reminded Vazquez of her own mother, who teaches as well. The two got to talking and began to build a strong relationship from there.

It wasn鈥檛 until the next semester that Vazquez found out about CU鈥檚 Women Who Make A Difference Award. The award celebrates women on campus who have made CU a better place. Nominees are recognized at an award ceremony, which was held this year at 5:30 pm on Monday, December 5^th in UMC 235.

Vazquez learned about the award from a flyer. 鈥淚 thought of Professor Ferguson and I was like, I need to do this,鈥� she said.

The nomination process consisted of filling out a Google Form and writing a letter explaining why the nominee was chosen.

鈥淸Professor Ferguson] is here to really inspire students and do more than is asked of her,鈥� said Vazquez. 鈥淎s a student and as a woman, I鈥檝e gone through a lot in my college years, and she鈥檚 grounding. She鈥檚 intelligent, she鈥檚 driven, she鈥檚 an amazing human being. I鈥檓 really just proud to have her in my life.鈥�

After filling out the nomination form, Vazquez sent Ferguson an email with the date of the awards ceremony. She also included a link to the form she had filled out, w

鈥淲hen I read that, I honestly started crying,鈥� said Professor Ferguson. 鈥淪he talked about how I challenge my students, but I challenge them to be who they want to be. It was touching because she was calling out qualities in me that are the qualities I want to have.鈥�

The letter included an explanation as to why 鈥� despite the fact that the professor insists Vazquez refer to her as Michaele 鈥� she continues to call her Professor Ferguson.

鈥淪he said she thinks I鈥檓 worthy of respect and she wants to show me that respect,鈥� said Ferguson. 鈥淚t was an incredibly moving nomination.鈥�

And for Ferguson, the award is 鈥榡ust as much about Louise鈥� as it is about her.

鈥淪he went out of her way to nominate me for this,鈥� said the professor. "She didn鈥檛 have to, and to me it signals tremendous qualities in her that she鈥檚 willing to take the time to recognize somebody else.鈥�

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