Golden to leave troubled Political Science dept.

American Politics Professor Marissa Golden will leave the University to teach at Bryn Mawr College. The troubled Political Science Department has taken another hit. Professor Marissa Golden, one of the few full-time American Politics professors in the department, has accepted an offer to teach at nearby Bryn Mawr College, the school where she spent her undergraduate years. Yesterday's announcement comes on the heels of Political Science Professor Daniel Deudney's decision to accept a teaching offer from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for next year. Unlike Golden, Deudney -- who teaches popular lecture courses on international relations theory and environmental politics -- was forced to leave after finishing his seventh year at Penn without receiving tenure. Golden came to the University in 1993 shortly after receiving her doctorate in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. In her time at Penn, she has been responsible for introducing several new classes to the curriculum and teaching the large introductory lecture course in American Politics. "In my view it's a terrific opportunity for her," Political Science Department Chairperson Ian Lustick said. "She'll be able to use her position at Bryn Mawr as a terrific platform for boosting her career." He added that he is "delighted she will be in the Philadelphia area." He hopes that the two schools can pursue "cooperative programs" in political science. Golden was unavailable for comment last night. Golden's departure leaves a large void in the department. Currently, only five professors -- Henry Teune, Karl von Vorys, Marie Gottschalk, Will Harris and Jack Nagel -- are slated to teach courses in American Politics in the fall. According to Lustick, Teune will take over Golden's honors seminar class scheduled for the fall, but no replacement has yet been identified for her introductory class, which is supposed to be offered next spring. "We are in the midst of recruiting a whole raft of professors," Lustick said. He added that the department is "actively working on" four professors for senior faculty appointments, and that several new professors could be on campus by the fall. The one new faculty member confirmed to arrive in the fall is David Rousseau, an international relations scholar from the State University of New York at Buffalo. The department obtained authorization for his appointment last summer at the same time that the School of Arts and Sciences turned down two other appointment requests -- including one in American Politics.