Hutton Honors College

Jean Robinson Named Interim Dean of the Hutton Honors College

Professor of Political Science Jean Robinson became Interim Dean of the Hutton Honors College on September 1. Robinson received her doctorate from Cornell University and has been teaching at IU for over 20 years. "I am thrilled to be working with the terrific staff and students of the HHC," she says. "I have been associated in one way or another with honors education at IU for many years, and have always appreciated the great intellectual gifts honors students bring to our community." As interim dean, Robinson plans to continue policies and initiatives begun by former HHC Dean (and now IUB Provost) Karen Hanson.

"I am honored to follow the leadership of Karen Hanson, and her predecessors, in helping to create challenging opportunities for outstanding students at IU," Robinson says. "As a scholar of international politics, with field experience in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe, I am especially excited to promote and expand international educational opportunities for Hutton Honors College students." As a longtime advocate of gender and racial equality, Robinson also intends to continue efforts to increase both the diversity of outstanding students entering the Hutton Honors College and the variety of its curricular offerings. She also looks forward to overseeing the construction of the HHC's new building at 7th and Woodlawn. "As an architect in my dreams, I am truly delighted to have the opportunity to work with Provost Hanson, Mr. Edward Hutton and others in helping to bring to fruition a new home for the Hutton Honors College."

Professor Robinson has a variety of academic and scholarly interests and experiences.

She studies the politics of equality, especially social movements and policies directed at achieving greater autonomy and opportunities for women. Currently she is involved in an extensive research project that examines debates among Americans over equality politics in education policy, analyzing at both the federal and state levels attempts to establish equality in education through programs such as Title IX, vouchers, and equalization of funding policies. This major research project is funded by The Spencer Foundation; Robinson is working with a IU Law Professor Julia Lamber and IU sociologist Rudy Professor Pamela Barnhouse Walters on the 4-year project.

Originally trained as a comparativist and a China specialist at Cornell University, she has broadened her geographic boundaries considerably. She is a founding member of the international research group RNGS (Research Network on Gender, Politics and the State.) Previous work with RNGS includes contributions on Poland to Comparative State Feminism (Sage, 1995) and on France to Abortion Politics, Women's Movements, and the Democratic State (Oxford, 2001). Professor Robinson was co-editor of Women and Social Policy: From Local to Global (NWSA Journal, 2001) and has also published in numerous edited volumes, as well as journals such as The China Quarterly, Policy Studies Review, Polity, Asian Survey, and Comparative Education Review. Professor Robinson currently teaches courses on the politics of morality, religion and public policy; feminist political thought; and cross-cultural studies of gender, sexuality and the family. Her most recent publication is Living Gender after Communism, co-edited with IU Ph.D. graduate Janet Johnson (IU Press, 2007).

In addition to her duties as interim dean, Robinson currently serves as Director of Graduate Studies in Political Science. She previously served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in the department of Political Science as well as Director of the Leadership Ethics and Social Action program (LESA) (2003-2007). She served as Director of Women's Studies (1977-1982, 1991-92) and as Dean for Women's Affairs at IU (1998-2003). She has received two NSF grants as well as funding from other major federal agencies. She has been involved in the development of the Advanced Placement Exams in Government and Politics, having served as chair of that program from 1996-99 and now as chief of the grading process for the AP Examination in Comparative Politics. Professor Robinson is a recipient of the Indiana University President's Award for Distinguished Teaching (1996) and of seven other teaching awards. In 2007, she also received the Distinguished Service Award from IUB.