Faculty and Staff

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign
• M.A., Marquette University
• B.S., University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Areas of Specialization:

• International Relations
• Comparative Politics
• European Politics
• Political Economy
• American Politics

Courses Taught

• POLS 245 Introduction to Comparative Politics
• POLS 260 Introduction to International Relations
• POLS 346 Politics of Western Europe
• POLS 364 International War and Peace
• POLS 365 American Foreign Policy
• POLS 369 Politics of the World Economy
• POLS 371 The Politics of German-speaking Europe
• POLS 372 The Politics of Scotland
• POLS 377 The United Nations
• POLS 378 Semester Abroad Research
• POLS 480 Seminar: Political Science
• INTS 200 International Studies
• INTS 365 Contemporary Europe
• INTS 370 International Study Tour
• INTS 377 Semester Abroad
• INTS 480 International Studies Senior Seminar

Wes Chapin joined UWRF in 1997 and was promoted to professor in 2008. He has served as chair of the Political Science Department and was the founding chair of the International Studies Program. His work as a faculty member and administrator has been shaped by commitments to experiential learning and enhancing the student journey.

Throughout his career at UWRF, Chapin has combined teaching and international education with extensive university leadership and service. His previous administrative roles include Interim Provost, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dean of Graduate Studies, Director of Institutional Research, Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission, UW System Program Planning and Review Liaison and Coordinator for Learning Effectiveness.

International education and creating opportunities for students to understand the world beyond the classroom have been major focuses of his career. In addition to directing the Office of International Education, Chapin has personally led more than 600 students abroad through more than 30 semester-length and short-term education abroad programs. He was the founding coordinator and a group leader of the International Traveling Classroom, UWRF’s liaison to the Hessen/UW Exchange Program, and both director and group leader of the Semester Abroad Europe program.

Chapin also has an extensive record of participating in shared governance and professional service. He served 16 years on the UWRF Faculty Senate, including three years as chair and faculty representative to the UW System and its Board of Regents. He has chaired or been a member of more than 100 Faculty Senate and administrative committees and was the administrative liaison to both the Academic Staff Council and University Staff Senate. As a student, he was a two-term president of the Student Government Association. His professional service also includes a decade as vice president of the Arrowhead Model United Nations Association and multiple terms as president of both the Wisconsin Political Science Association and the UWRF chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

Education:

• B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Professor Dooley's specialties are in Cartography, GIS, and Spatial Justice. His research is concerned with the intersection of art and cartography, with special focus on clay and gunpowder as mediums for map creation. He teaches GIS 250 (Intro. GIS), GIS 351 (Map Design), GEOG 265 (Spatial Justice), GIS 366 (Field Methods in Geography and GIS), and GIS 455 (Advanced Map Design).

Education:

B.A., Geography - Michigan State University;
M.A., Ph.D., Geography - Louisiana State University.

Dr. Heppen's teaching and research interests are in the human, political, and historical geography of the United States. He also likes teaching courses on Latin America and Asia. His primary research interests lie in changing electoral geographies as the result of new social and economic geographies. His major research methods include the statistical and spatial analysis of political, social, economic, and demographic data. He h as conducted research at national and local scales including Louisiana, California, and the Midwest.  

Dr. Heppen enjoys mentoring students in their own research and working with them in exploring a wide range of geographic pursuits. He also has an interest in geographic education and serves as the faculty adviser to the Student Geography Organization (SGO). In his spare time, he enjoys sports, sports memorabilia, comic books, and railroads.

• Atlas of the 2020 Elections edited by Robert H. Watrel, Kimberly Johnson Maier, Ryan Weichelt, Fiona M. Davidson, John Heppen, Erin H. Fouberg, J. Clark Archer, Richard Morrill, Fred M. Shelley, Kenneth C. Martis
• Geographies of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election edited by Barney Warf and John Heppen
• Geography, History, and the American Political Economy edited by John Heppen and Samuel M. Otterstrom
• Vita

Education

• Ph.D., State University of NY-Albany
• M.A., State University of NY-Albany
• B.A., LeMoyne College-Syracuse, NY

Areas of Specialization

• American Politics
• Public Policy
• Urban Politics
• Education Politics and Policy
• Race and Politics
• Public Administration
• State and Local Politics
• Criminal Justice Politics and Policy

Courses Taught

• POLS 114 American Government and Politics
• POLS 225 Public Administration
• POLS 253 State & Local Politics
• POLS 256 Public Policy Making
• POLS 300 Research Methods
• POLS 322 Politics of American Cities
• POLS 416 Constitutional Law
• POLS 480 Senior Seminar

Neil Kraus has been at UWRF since 2005. He teaches several courses in American Politics and Public Policy, Constitutional Law, Research Methods, and the Senior Seminar, and is also the Pre Law advisor.  Professor Kraus has written three books: Race, Neighborhoods, and Community Power: Buffalo Politics, 1934-1997 (2000, State University of New York Press); Majoritarian Cities: Policy Making and Inequality in Urban Politics (2013, University of Michigan Press); and The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement (2023, Temple University Press), which won honorable mention for the Michael Harrington Book Award from the Critical Political Science section of the American Political Science Association in 2024.  He has also authored several book chapters and articles on topics including race and urban politics, education policy, inter-local cooperation, the politics of Presidential elections in Wisconsin, as well as the politics of voting regulation in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Professor Kraus is also a frequent contributor to local and regional news outlets in Wisconsin and Minnesota, including as the author of numerous articles for The Cap Times, Minn Post, and Tone Madison, among others, and been a guest on many education-related podcasts as well.  He is currently writing a book about higher education and democracy.

Education:

• B.A., Beloit College
• Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Courses Taught:

• POLS 110 Controversies in Politics
• POLS 230 Political Philosophy
• POLS 245 Comparative Politics
• POLS 480 / INTS 480 Senior Seminar

Research areas include the political implications of the internet and the control of information. Also researching modern propaganda tactics in the new media, and the surveillance state.