Faculty

Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan

Frank E. Duckwall Professor of Florida Studies
Associate Professor, Political Science
Founding Director, Center for Civic Engagement
Lead Instructor, USF St. Petersburg YMCA Civic Fellows Program

Contact

Home Campus: St. Petersburg
Office: PNM101B, the Center for Civic Engagement Suite in the Piano Man Building
on the St. Petersburg campus
Phone: (727) 873-4956
Email

BIO

Dr. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Founding Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where she teaches courses in American Government and Public Law. She is the Frank E. Duckwall Professor of Florida Studies (2022-24) focusing on Florida politics and government.

McLauchlan was awarded the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha's Certificate for Outstanding Teaching in Political Science, the USF St. Petersburg Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the USF St. Petersburg Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Civic Engagement, the USF St. Petersburg College of Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year, the USF Outstanding Faculty Award, the Florida Campus Compact Graham Frey Civic Educator Award, the Lawson R. McElroy Award for Excellence in Engaged Learning, the AASCU Barbara Burch Award for Faculty Leadership in Civic Engagement, the APSA Craig L. Brians Award for Undergraduate Research and Mentorship, the USF Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, and the APSA Outstanding Civic Engagement Project Award (for the USFSP YMCA Civic Fellows Program. Her book Congressional Participation as Amicus Curiae before the U.S. Supreme Court explores how Members of Congress attempt to influence Supreme Court decision-making in specific cases.
McLauchlan is an active contributor to the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has published numerous articles and book chapters about the effects of integrating civic engagement into the curriculum and has presented those findings at regional, national, and international conferences.

McLauchlan was a Fulbright Scholar to Moldova (Constitutional Law, Politics, and the Judicial Process) in 2010, and she was awarded a returning Fulbright to Moldova Summer 2012. In 2017, McLauchlan was awarded a Fulbright to North Macedonia (Rule of Law and Civil Society). McLauchlan was awarded the Medal of the Free University of Moldova ( Medalia Universitatii Libere Internationale din Moldova) and a Diploma from the Government of the Republic of Moldova recognizing fruitful international cooperation and collaboration on research. She was also presented with the Award of the City of Klos, Albania in honor of the promotion of democratic values, community engagement, democracy, and volunteerism.
In addition to her scholarly activities, Professor McLauchlan has extensive experience in American government and politics. McLauchlan worked at the US Supreme Court, the US Senate Judiciary Committee, the US Department of Justice, and the White House. A veteran of several presidential campaigns, she has managed statewide operations across the US, from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. In 2014, she was a candidate for Florida Senate.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

I believe strongly in the citizen scholar model and provide experiential learning and civic engagement opportunities for students in each of my courses. Examples include the Supreme Court oral argument simulation in Constitutional Law I, the Senate Judiciary Committee Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing and the Courtroom Observation Research assignment in Law and Politics, and the campaign internships in The Campaign Process, American National Government, and The Road to the White House.

I strive to internationalize the curriculum and to provide opportunities for my students to become “global citizens.” Examples include my projects in Women and the Law in which my students worked together in groups with students at the Moldova State University’s American Studies Center on research projects related to human trafficking, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights in which my students working on comparative legal research papers about women’s rights in the Middle East were paired with a woman lawyer from that country (we partnered with the Women’s Lawyer Group in the Middle East) who mentored them on their projects, and in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in which my students partnered with a seminar at the Scoala Nationala de Studii Politice si Adminstrative in Bucharest, Romania, working in groups on legal research projects about religious freedom in the U.S. and in Europe and my Civil Liberties and Civil Rights class that partnered with South East European University in Skopje, Macedonia, working on groups on research projects comparing and contrasting decisions of the Supreme Court of the U.S. and the European Court of Human Rights on similar legal questions.

COURSES TAUGHT AT USF ST. PETERSBURG CAMPUS

  • POS 2041 American National Government
  • POS 4614 U.S. Constitutional Law I
  • POS 4624 U.S. Constitutional Law II (Civil Rights and Civil Liberties)
  • POS 3691 Introduction to Law and Politics
  • POS 3273 Practical Politics: The Campaign Process 
  • POS 4693 and WST 4930 Women and the Law I
  • PUP 4323 Women and Politics
  • POS 3182 Florida Politics and Government
  • LDR 3263 Community Leadership Practicum
  • POS 3931 and POS 4941The Road to the White House
  • CPO 4930 and CPO 5934 Comparative Politics: Moldova (Study Abroad Course)

PUBLICATIONS ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING