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B.A., Tufts University; M.A. and Ph.D., Yale University

Lisa Gilson is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Bates College, specializing in political theory. Her work focuses on political reaction which is expressed outside of mainstream political channels, from abolitionist movements to contemporary far-right groups. She is currently working on a book about the relationship between social movements and social critics, including artists and writers. Her book shows how critics can take advantage of their distance from movements to help further the same cause – but often in quite divergent ways. Lisa’s work has been published in the American Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, American Political Thought and Perspectives on Politics. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University in 2019 and spent 2019-2020 as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. At Bates, Lisa teaches courses on social movements, Black political thought, literature and politics, and democratic theory more broadly. Many of her courses are or will be cross-listed with the Gender and Sexuality Studies program.

Classes for Academic Year 2023-2024:
Fall 2023:
PLTC 295: Reading Marx, Rethinking Marxisms Reform versus/and Revolution
PLTC 316: Reform versus/and Revolution

Winter and Spring 2024:
On Research Leave