Social Sciences Division
Ph.D. Student
Teaching Assistant
Graduate
Merrill College Academic Building
133
Spring '25 - Mondays and Thursdays by appointment
Merrill/Crown Faculty Services
They/She/He (any pronouns)
After writing an honors thesis on positive freedom in reproductive justice, Alyssa Ruth (AR) graduated summa cum laude from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, with a Bachelor's in Political Science. AR is a sixth-year in the Politics department PhD program, writing a dissertation on embryonic/fetal personhood and the new abortion politics post-Dobbs; their primary research interests are in feminist political theory, feminist critical legal studies, and American politics.
Previous TA Experience:
POLI 3 - Keywords: Concepts in Politics
POLI 21 - Governing the Golden State
POLI 61 - Politics of Social Policy
POLI 65 - Introduction to International Relations
POLI 105D - Contemporary Political Theory
POLI 111B - Civil Liberties
POLI 120A - Congress, President, and the Court in American Politics
POLI 120B - Society and Democracy in American Political Development
POLI 120C - State and Capitalism in American Political Development
Additional Teaching Experience:
POLI 103 - Feminist Interventions in Western Political Thought (Summer 2023)
Additional Projects:
Native American Rights Research (GSR for Professor Melanie Springer - Summer 2023)
Project 2050 (transcriber for research team - Summer 2021)
UCSC Glossary of Political Economy (contributor and editor - Spring 2021)
- Political Theory
- Socialist Feminism
- Positive / Negative Freedom
- American Politics
- Reproductive Justice
- Embryonic / Fetal Personhood
- Disability Studies / Crip Theory
"Kill the Whore, Create the Mother: The Deadly Goals of Anti-Abortion Legislation." - Midwest Political Science Association Conference, April 4, 2025.
"The Abortion Question via In Vitro Fertilization: Debating Embryonic Personhood in Alabama." - Western Political Science Association Conference, April 17, 2025.