Name: Karen Sweeting
URI Title: Assistant Professor of Political Science       
Email: ksweeting@uri.edu
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Three adjectives she’d use to describe herself: motivated, intuitive, resourceful

Our new assistant professor of political science, Karen Sweeting, received her PhD from Florida Atlantic University. Her dissertation, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural Competence: An Interpretive Analysis for Cultural Competence of Federal Departments’ Strategic Plans, “highlighted an action-oriented approach for organizations seeking to engage in efforts to support and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Her expertise in understanding social justice issues and how they relate to public administration and other realms of management are a welcome addition to the University of Rhode Island. “I am eager to develop research at URI that engage with the new landscape of social justice, equity, diversity, equality, inclusion, and cultural competence,” she says.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Political Science,” she continues. “I found the synergy, camaraderie, and collegiality amongst faculty, staff, and students quite inspiring. URI’s mission statement also resonated with me as it addressed cultural diversity; embracing difference; fostering respect, understanding, and social justice; and rejecting prejudice and intolerance. I am excited to help support the mission and work on tangibly promoting an environment where diversity is welcomed, fostered, and celebrated.” Her research interests are focused on disparities in public administration; policy development, implementation, and outcomes; organizational learning; and human resource management. She says she is also interested in exploring “representative bureaucracy; ethics; emotions; and the role of race, gender, and other dimensions of marginalization in public administration and public and non-profit management.” 

This fall, Sweeting will teach PSC 504: Ethics in Public Administration and Policy and in the spring, she’ll teach PSC 502: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Public Administration and PSC 503: Problems in Public Personnel Administration. As for the students who will soon be in her classroom, she says: “I encourage students to think about present notions and be open to deeper conversations to participate in social change. It is also important to understand that meaning changes from one culture to the next and everything is open for reinterpretation. I encourage everyone to show up authentically to engage and support each other.”