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
- Curriculum Vitae
- Moldova Blog
- Macedonia Blog
- Road to the White House Blog
- Road to the White House
- Global Classroom Blog
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
- “Promoting Civic Literacy and Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with Elizabeth Bennion. PSNow, American Political Science Association, 23 March 2020.
- “Civic Engagement in the Online Classroom: Increasing Youth Political Engagement in an Online American Government Course.” Vol. 8, No. 1 (April 2019) eJournal of Public Affairs, pp. 32-68.
- “Civic Engagement Education” with Elizabeth A. Bennion, included in “Teaching and Learning Conference-within-a-Conference Launched at APSA Annual Meeting in Boston,” by Alison Rios Millet McCartney and Renee Van Vechten, PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 52, Issue 1 (January 2019), pp. 157-158.
- “Cultivating Global Citizenship in Higher Education: Civic Engagement and Service Learning in Joint Study Abroad Courses.” Vol. 4, No. 1 (2015) Revista Internacional de Educacion para la Justicia Social (RIEJS) pp. 111-129. With Larisa Patlis. International Service Learning Journal article
- “Learning Citizenship by Doing: Integrating Campaign Internships into Political Science Coursework,” in Teaching Civic Engagement: From Student to Active Citizen. Alison McCartney, Elizabeth A. Bennion, and Dick Simpson, eds. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association, 2013.
- “Creating a Global Classroom: Providing Collaborative Research Opportunities for U.S. and Moldovan Students.” Vol. 19 (November 2012) Journal for Civic Commitment. With Svetlana Suveica.
- “Active Learning in Public Law Courses: Mock Senate Judiciary Committee Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing.” Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Spring 2012) Political Science Educator. Article is on pp 15-19.
- “Integrating Civic Engagement into the Higher Education Curriculum in the United States,” in Intercultural Communication in the New Millennium, edited by Elena Crestionicov, American Studies Center, Moldova State University, 2012.
- “The Courtroom as Classroom: Integrating Civic Engagement in Public Law Courses.” Vol. 17 (October 2011) Journal for Civic Commitment.
- “Learning Citizenship by Doing: Evaluating the Effects of a Required Political Campaign Internship in American Government” Issue 12 (January 2009) Journal for Civic Commitment.
- “The Road to the White House: Design and Implement a Course about U.S. Presidential Campaigns that Includes a New Hampshire Primary Campaign Internship.” The Political Science Educator. Vol. 10, Issue 2 (December 2005).