Alexandria Wilson-McDonald
Assistant Professor
Department of History, Political Science, Languages & Cultures
Alexandria Wilson-McDonald, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. She earned her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida where she also earned graduate certificates in European studies and gender studies. Her scholarly work focuses on politics and gender in Central Eastern Europe in a comparative perspective. She is particularly interested in the relationship between social movement activism, gender equality, and policymaking in Czechia, Slovakia, and Poland. Her current book project takes a grounded, qualitative approach to examine the relationship between social movement actors and the state in countries across Central Eastern Europe, specifically focusing on how gender equality activists resist the discursive and political constraints they confront today. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in the region allowing her to build rich case studies. Dr. Wilson-McDonald’s work has been published in the academic journals Communist & Post-Communist Studies and Feminist Review. She also contributes to Ms. Magazine and The Conversation on timely topics of gender and politics and political developments in Europe. She teaches courses in comparative politics, global politics, and gender & politics.
Education
- Ph.D. Political Science, University of Florida, 2021
- M.A. Political Science, University of Florida, 2017
- M.A. Political Science, University of Central Florida, 2014
- B.A. Political Science, University of South Florida, 2012
Research, Creative, & Professional Work
- Central East European Politics
- Democratization & Democratic Backsliding
- Feminist Theory and Research Methods
- Gender-based Violence
- Social Movement Activism
Publications
- “Creating a Hostile State in Slovakia: Anti-Gender Political Strategies and Impacts.” Book chapter in The War on Gender and The Gender of War in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Katalin Fábián, Lexington Books, forthcoming.
- “Gendering Violence in the Age of Anti-Genderism: Feminist Framing of Violence Against Women in Slovakia.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2023; 56 (2): 136–158.
- “Do Czech Women Need ‘Gender’?: A Conceptual History of ‘Gender’ in Czechia.” Feminist Review, 2023; 134 (1): 21-37.
- “A Queer History of Communism: Navigating Sexuality and Gender in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1989”, an analytic review of Queer Encounters with Communist Power: Non-heterosexual Lives and the State in Czechoslovakia, 1948-1989 by Věra Sokolová. Feminist Critique: East European Journal of Feminist and Queer Studies, 2022.
- Book Review of Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism and Other Arguments for Economic Independence by Kristen Ghodsee. Journal of Gender Studies, 2019; 28 (8): 985-986.
- Book Review of Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women’s Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War by Kristen Ghodsee. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2019; 5: 844-845.
- Book Review of Czech Feminisms: Perspectives on Gender in East Central Europe. ed. by Iveta Jusová and Jiřina Šiklová. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 2018; 25 (4): 489-490.
Affiliations & Awards
- American Political Science Association
- Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
- Transatlantic Policy Center, American University, Washington, D.C.
- American Political Science Association Centennial Research Grant, Summer 2024
- Dean’s Research Award, School of International Service, American University, Summer 2024
- Transatlantic Policy Center Research Grant, American University, Summer 2024
- Faculty Exceptional Research Award, School of International Service, American University, 2023
- Postgraduate Research Grant, The Kosciuszko Foundation, Summer 2022
- Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, Iowa State University, 2019
- Madelyn Lockhart Graduate Student Teaching Fellowship, Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research, University of Florida, 2020-2021
- Best Graduate Student Teacher Award, Department of Political Science, University of Florida, Fall 2020
- Fulbright Research Grant to the Czech Republic, U.S. Department of State, 2018 - 2019
- Vada Yeoman’s Fellowship, Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research, University of Florida, 2019
- Rothman Doctoral Fellowship in the Humanities, University of Florida, 2018
- Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship, Czech Language, Center for European Studies, University of Florida, 2015-2018