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Department: Political Science

David Heska Wanbli Weiden

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David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Ph.D.; JD, an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota nation, is a professor of Native American Studies and Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

His academic scholarship involves Native American issues, law and political science, and he’s an attorney, licensed to practice in all Colorado state courts. Weiden is an alumnus of Vona, a Tin House Scholar, a 2018 MacDowell Colony Fellow, and a 2019 Ragdale Foundation resident. He received the 2018 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship. He is the fiction editor for Anomaly, journal of international literature and arts (www.anmly.org), and he teaches writing at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver.

Weiden novel Winter Counts is forthcoming August 2020 from Ecco/HarperCollins, as is the second book in the series, Wounded Horse. Winter Counts is the story of a local Native American enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation who becomes obsessed with finding and stopping the dealer who is bringing increasingly dangerous drugs into his community. It’s a Native thriller, an examination of the broken criminal justice system on reservations and a meditation on Native identity. Both novels will be published in France by Gallmeister Editions.

He’s published or has work forthcoming in Shenandoah, Yellow Medicine Review, Transmotion, Criminal Class Review, Tribal College Journal and other magazines. His children’s book, Spotted Tail, will be released in 2019.

A first-generation college student, he received his MFA in creative writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts, his J.D. from the University of Denver Strum College of Law and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sheila Rucki

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Sheila Rucki teaches Political Theory, Political Systems & Ideas and International Political Economy.

She has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2000.

Rucki recently published “Global Economic Crisis and China’s Challenge to Global Hegemony” in New Political Science. Rucki’s other recent papers include: “Resurgent Neoliberalism in American Political Discourse,” “Neoliberal Backlash and the Great Recession,” and “Resurgent Neoliberalism and the Struggle for Hegemony.”

Norman Provizer

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Retired political science professor Norman Provizer taught American Constitutional Law, Leadership Studies, Leadership & Social Change and American National Government for more than three decades.

He has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 1989.

Provizer has recently written chapters in: The Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fictional Leaders, Lincoln’s Enduring Legacy, and Leadership Studies: The Dialogue of Disciplines. Additionally, he has co-edited three books on the United States Supreme Court and has published articles in numerous academic journals including White House Studies and The Leadership Quarterly.

Provizer has served as an election analyst for television stations in Denver and Shreveport, La. His op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times as well as other newspapers. Under his direction, the Meir Center developed a leadership program for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Denver.

Robert Preuhs

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Robert Preuhs, Ph.D, is a professor and chair of the Political Science Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He currently teaches democracy: U.S. and Third World, conducting political analysis and applied political research lab.

Preuhs has been teaching political science at the college level for nearly 20 years. He held positions at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado as lecturer, affiliate faculty and instructor before coming to MSU Denver in 2007. Preuhs was also the associate director of the Social Science Data Laboratory at the University of Colorado from 2004 to 2006. He has received numerous awards, including the Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work by the University of Colorado Graduate School in 2001 and Best Book on Latino Politics, awarded by the Latino Caucus of the American Political Science Association in 2014.

His main research areas focus on issues of representation and democracy through the lens of racial and ethnic politics, state and national politics, public policy and administration. Preuhs has published in academic journals including the Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, American Politics Quarterly and Social Science Quarterly. He also co-authored the book “Black-Latino Relations in U.S. National Politics: Beyond Conflict or Cooperation” in 2013, the first study of minority intergroup relations at the national level.

Preuhs received his doctorate in American politics, methodology and public policy and a master’s in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001 and 1999, respectively. He also earned a master’s in public administration from the University of New Mexico in 1996 and a bachelor’s in political science and international studies from Hamline University, cum laude, in 1992.

Richard Moeller

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Richard Moeller teaches Politics in the Media, European Politics, Political Systems & Ideas and Intro to International Relations.

He has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 1998.

Moeller is an associate with the Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership and the director of the Model UN Program. Moeller began the Model UN Program at MSU Denver in 1998 and has been active with student preparation and participation since then.

Hollie Hendrikson

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Hollie Hendrikson, M.A., is an affiliate professor in the Department of Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Hendrikson has over 12 years of experience working with government agencies, legislatures, advocacy organizations, academic institutions and research think tanks to develop data-driven policies for municipalities, states and organizations. She has worked with several communities to develop data-driven strategic plans that create opportunities for affordable housing. In addition, she ran a small consulting firm that specialized in social policy research and strategic planning, qualitative and quantitative research projects and developed policy options for governments. In this role, she also worked with clients to successfully complete and submit HUD Consolidated Plans and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice.

Her other previous experience includes working at the National Conference of State Legislatures where she led the organization’s public health policy work. During her tenure at NCSL, she provided technical assistance to legislatures in all 50 states, facilitated policy planning conversations with several groups of public health policy stakeholders as well as wrote over 30 magazine articles, journal articles and policy white papers.

Hendrikson received her master’s in social policy and development form from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2009, where she earned the top classification for her research on migrant women’s access to services in the United States. In addition, she holds a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Colorado.

Jeremy Castle

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Jeremy Castle, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His areas of expertise include United States elections, public opinion, polarization, religion and politics, church and state, and media and politics. Castle currently teaches American National Government and Conducting Political Analysis.

Prior to joining MSU Denver, Castle worked as a lecturer and postdoctoral teaching fellow at Central Michigan University. He received an honorable mention during his time as a Presidential Fellow in the graduate research fellowship at the University of Notre Dame. He was awarded several grants for research projects, including grants from the Rooney Center for American Democracy.

Castle’s research areas include political polarization; religion and politics; and media and politics, especially how popular films and pop culture influences public opinion. His primary research examines the role of religion in political polarization in the United States. He also has studied Martin Luther King Jr.’s contributions to political philosophy. Castle’s work includes “The Effect of the #MeToo Movement on Political Engagement and Ambition in 2018” published in Political Research Quarterly and “New Fronts in the Culture Wars?: Religion, Partisanship, and Polarization on Transgender Rights and Religious Liberty in the United States,” published in American Politics Research.

Castle received both his doctorate and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 2015 and 2012, respectively. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Hanover College in 2010.