Nancy Wadsworth

Professor

  • Faculty

What I do

I am an Americanist political scientist who focuses primarily at the intersections of American politics and popular culture, and author of Ambivalent Miracles: Evangelicals and the Politics of Racial Healing (U of Virginia Press, 2014). My subfield interests include race and religion in U.S. political life; social movements; political theory; Native American political history; reconciliation and conflict resolution; and climate politics and activism.

Professional Biography

Born and raised in California, I have called Colorado my home state since 1991. My undergraduate degrees (Political Thought and Women's Studies) are from the University of California at Santa Cruz. I earned my graduate degrees at the Graduate Faculty at New School for Social Research in New York City, and completed a two-year postdoctoral Carnegie Mellon research fellowship at Cornell University. I have been teaching at the University of Denver since 2004.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Political Science/American Politics, New School for Social Research, 2001
  • MA, New School for Social Research, 1995
  • BA, Modern Society & Social Thought/Women's Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1986

Professional Affiliations

  • American Political Science Association
  • Western Political Science Association
  • Association for Political Theory
  • American Studies Association

Presentations

Wadsworth, N. (2019). "Rwanda in the Wake of Genocide: Stretching to Understand the Unfathomable". Radical Forgiveness, Imagination, and Justice in our Teaching. SIE Center, University of Denver: Office of Teaching and Learning.
Wadsworth, N. (2017). Confronting Historical Amnesia as Scholarly Praxis. Western Political Science Association. Vancouver, BC.
Wadsworth, N. (2015). "Marcuse Stalks the Walking Dead". Association for Political Theory Annual Conference. Boulder, Colorado: Association for Political Theory.
Wadsworth, N. (2016). "The DU John Evans Study Committee Report: Its Context, Challenges, and Impact". Violence and Settler Colonialism Class.
Wadsworth, N. (2017). Dude, Seriously? On the Dirty, Dirty Magic of Romantic Comedies. "Three Things" Series. Denver MCA: Denver Museum of Contemporary Art.

Awards

  • Dean's Award for Faculty Excellence (DAFE), AHSS Dean's Office
  • University of Denver Faculty Service Award, Faculty Senate
  • "Best Badass Professor", Clarion Magazine