Aubrey Westfall

Professor of Political Science
Chair of Political Science Department

Contact

Phone: 508-286-3647

Education

Ph.D., University of Colorado, Political Science (Comparative Politics)
M.A., University of Colorado, Political Science
B.A., Westmont College, Political Science/Philosophy

About

Main Interests

Comparative Politics: Immigration and Citizenship, Minority Politics, European Politics, Women and Politics
International Relations: Human Rights, International Organizations

Other Interests

I am committed to working with my colleagues at Wheaton to create an intellectual community that celebrates, motivates, and supports our scholarly work.

I’m an active, outdoorsy person, and head out to run, hike, ride, bike, kakak, paddleboard, ski/snowboard, and /or camp at any opportunity. I love to travel and to learn new things about my destinations – my travel partners get annoyed by my desire to read ALL THE SIGNS. I read recreationally every day, and have a particular fondness for historically-rich regency era romance novels.

I’m originally from Denver, Colorado. The mountains call me.

Publications

Books

Aubrey Westfall. (2022). The Politics of Immigration in Scotland. Edinburgh University Press.

Bozena Welborne, Aubrey Westfall, Özge Çelik Russell, and Sarah Tobin. (2018). The Politics of the Headscarf in the United States. Cornell University Press.

Peer-reviewed publications

Westfall, Aubrey. 2024. “Islamic Religious Behaviors and Civic Engagement in Europe and North America.” Politics and Religion (17:1): 138-176.

Aubrey Westfall. 2024. “Direct and Indirect Prejudice in Scotland.” Scottish Affairs (33:2): 209-239.

Nazita Lajevardi, Kassra Oskooii, Hannah Walker, Aubrey Westfall. (2020). “The Paradox Between Integration and Perceived Discrimination Among Muslim Americans.” Political Psychology (41:3): 587-606.

Aubrey Westfall. (2019). “Mosque Involvement and Political Engagement in the United States.” Politics and Religion: (12:2)

Aubrey Westfall and Özge Çelik Russell. (2019) “The Political Effects of Religious Cues.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

Aubrey Westfall. (2018) “Mosques and Political Engagement in Europe and North America.” POMEPS Studies 32: The Politics of Islam in Europe and North America. https://pomeps.org/2018/12/18/pomeps-studies-32-the-politics-of-islam-in-europe-and-north-america/

Westfall, Aubrey, Ozge Celik Russell, Bozena Welborne, Sarah Tobin. (2017). “Islamic Headcovering and Political Engagement: The Power of Social Networks.” Politics and Religion 10(1): 3-30.

Aubrey Westfall. (2016). “European Reform from the Bottom Up? The Presence and Effects of Cosmopolitan Values in German Public Opinion” In Cosmopolitanism Reconsidered: Jürgen Habermas, Germany and the European Union, Eds. Gaspare Genna, Ian Wilson and Thomas Haakenson. Routledge.

Aubrey Westfall, Carissa Chantiles (student). (2016). ”The Political Cure: Gender Quotas and Women’s Health.” Politics & Gender, 12(3): 469-490.

Westfall, Aubrey, Bozena Welborne, Sarah Tobin and Ozge Celik Russell. (2016). “The Complexity of Covering: The Religious, Social and Political Dynamics of Islamic Practice in the United States.” Social Science Quarterly 97(3): 771-790.

Berry, Michael & Aubrey Westfall. (2015). “Dial D for distraction: The making and breaking of cell phone policies in the college classroom.” College Teaching 63(2).

Westfall, Aubrey. (2013). “The Consequences of Crisis: A Call for Measured Optimism.” German Studies Review 36(1).

 

Other publications/appearances

Aubrey Westfall and Dana M. Polanichka, “Revitalizing Writing Retreats,” Inside Higher Ed, May 16, 2023.

Dana M. Polanichka and Aubrey Westfall, “Why Your College Needs a Faculty Writing Room,” Chronicle of Higher Education (February 24, 2023).

Aubrey Westfall and Dana M. Polanichka, “Faculty Research Success on a Shoestring,” Inside Higher Ed, August 2, 2022.

Aubrey Westfall. (2020). Book Review: The State and Religious Minorities in Turkey and France by Ramazan Kilnç. Political Science Quarterly 135(4): 747-749.

Bozena Welborne, Aubrey Westfall, Özge Çelik Russell, Sarah Tobin. (2020) Critical Dialogue: “Muslims in a Post-9/11 America: A Survey of Attitudes and Beliefs and their Implications for U.S. National Security Policy by Rachel Gillum”. Perspectives on Politics 18(4)

Bozena Welborne, Aubrey Westfall, Özge Çelik Russell, Sarah Tobin. (2020) Critical Dialogue: “Response to Rachel Gillum’s Review of the Politics of the Headscarf in the United States”. Perspectives on Politics 18(4).

Kate Mason and Aubrey Westfall. “Guest Column: Move to Expel International Students Hurts the US.” July 15, 2020. The Sun Chronicle. 

Aubrey Westfall and Bozena Welborne. “Commentary: With Muslim-American women on the ballot, we all win.” October 15, 2018. Times Union. 

Aubrey Westfall. October 12, 2018. The Academic Minute. 

Aubrey Westfall. “Fight Islamic Radicalization by Welcoming Mosques into your Communities.” November 13, 2017. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Aubrey Westfall. “Mosques, Social Networks, and the Political Engagement of Muslim-American Women.” June 22, 2017. Religion in Public. 

Aubrey Westfall. “Scotland’s Unique Approach to Immigration Threatened by Brexit…” Babe LincolnSpring: 2017:2.

Teaching Philosophy

I enjoy teaching classes that grapple with contemporary social and political debates, especially those with significant international implications.

My objective in the classroom is to create a community of learners, where students feel that they belong and that their presence in the classroom makes a difference to their own education and the education of others. I therefore place heavy emphasis on student engagement and active learning, and guide students to discover knowledge themselves, with the help of their classmates.

Courses I have recently taught include:

  • POLS 109 International Politics
  • POLS 200 Political Science Research Methods
  • POLS 215 Contemporary European Governments and Politics
  • POLS 229 United States Foreign Policy
  • POLS 285 Women and Politics
  • POLS 298 Migration and Politics
  • POLS 309 International Law and Organizations
  • POLS 325 European Integration

I have also enjoyed teaching courses outside of my area of expertise and my disciplinary home of political science, especially when the courses provide an opportunity for students to learn abroad. Examples of recent courses taught include:

  • BIO/POLS 298: Between Peril and Promise in Madagascar: Intersections of Politics and Biodiversity on
    the Eighth Continent
  • INT 250: Bhutanese Language and Culture (Wheaton in Bhutan Program, Fall 2022)
  • INT 260: Contemporary Bhutanese Society (Wheaton in Bhutan Program, Fall 2022)
  • INT 360: Practicum in Bhutan (Wheaton in Bhutan Program, Fall 2022)

Student Projects

Undergraduate students play key roles in my many of my research projects. Our collaborative work has been supported financially by Wheaton Research Partnerships and Wheaton Faculty-Student Summer Research Awards (2016, 2019, 2020).

I have also student in honors theses, the most recent of which was Viktar Siamionau’s theses entitled “Is education in the Humanities and Social Sciences a Bulwark Against Authoritarianism?”, defended in May of 2024.

Research Interests

My research explores the policies and sociopolitical practices regulating the political behavior of minoritized groups within Western democratic societies. Groups of interest include immigrants, women, and ethnic or religious minorities. The issues animating my research involve questions of how minoritized groups engage in politics, how best to represent the interests of minoritized populations, the extension of democratic rights, and the intersection of secular democracy and religious pluralism in Europe and North America. My research engages with quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including several years of fieldwork conducting interviews and focus groups in Europe and the United States. My research has been supported by Fulbright, the European Commission, and the Institute for Citizens & Scholars.

 

Department(s)

Political Science

Program(s)

Office

Knapton 203

Hours

Tuesday 2:30-4:00; Wednesday 11:30-12:30; and by appointment