Five Women Scholars Receive Promotions at Bates College in Maine

Bates College, the highly rated liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, has announced the promotions of seven faculty members for the 2017-18 academic year. Five of these promotions went to women.

Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir was promoted to full professor of politics. She has been a member of the faculty at the college since 2001. Professor Ásgeirsdóttir is the author of  Who Gets What? Domestic Influences on International Negotiations Allocating Shared Resources (State University of New York Press, 2008). Dr. Ásgeirsdóttir holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a Ph.D. in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.

Helen Boucher was named a full professor of psychology. A social psychologist, her research is focused on self-regulation and self-esteem. Professor Boucher is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.

Karen Melvin was appointed a full professor of history. She cames to Bates in 2005 and is now chair of the history department. Her research centers on colonial Latin America, especially Mexico. She is the author of Building Colonial Cities of God: Mendicant Orders and Urban Culture in New Spain, 1570-1800 (Stanford University Press, 2012). Dr. Melvin is a graduate of Boston University. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Caroline Shaw was promoted to associate professor of history. She joined the faculty at Bates in 2010. Dr. Shaw is the author of Britannia’s Embrace: Modern Humanitarianism and the Imperial Origins of Refugee Relief (Oxford University Press, 2015). She is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mara Tieken was appointed associate professor of education. She has been a member of the Bates College faculty since 2011. Dr. Tieken is the author of Why Rural Schools Matter (University of North Carolina Press, 2014). She earned a doctorate at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.