Rate My Professor Sheila Rucki

Sheila Rucki, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she joined the faculty in 2000. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Washington (2006), an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington (1991), and a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Montana. Prior to her appointment at MSU Denver, Rucki taught courses on sex discrimination and the U.S. Constitution at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and critical and feminist political theory at the University of Seattle.

Rucki's research specializes in Critical International Political Economy Theory. Her expertise spans foreign policy and security, international political economy, political systems and ideas, women's politics, international relations with a focus on national sovereignty and U.S. foreign policy, democracy and authoritarianism, and political theory. She teaches courses such as political theory, comparative politics, international relations, international political economy, international law, defense and development in East Asia, American foreign policy, service learning, and authoritarian populism. In 2016, she taught foreign policy and American political thought at the University of Pécs in Hungary through a faculty exchange program. Key publications include "Foundations of an Authoritarian Populism in an International Context" (Orbis, 2021), "Hegemonic Systems and the Politics of Happiness: the Fairy Tale as Ideology" co-authored with L. Ortiz (BRILL, 2019), "Global Economic Crisis and China's Challenge to Global Hegemony: A Neo-Gramscian Approach" (New Political Science, 2011), "The Great Recession and the Challenge to the Ascendency of Neoliberalism" (2011), and "Global Economic Crisis and the Advance of Global Hegemony: A Neo-Gramscian Approach" (2010). Rucki has served as President of the Metropolitan State Faculty Federation and Chair of the University Policy Advisory Council.