Raleigh Hightower
Lifestyle Editor
rhightower@murraystate.edu
Marc Polizzi was voted as the best faculty member in the 2022 Best of Murray Survey.
Polizzi joined Murray State as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology in the fall of 2016. He interviewed for his position at Murray State while completing his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri.
As a member of the political science department, Polizzi teaches a range of courses in the subfield of international relations including Latin American politics, international law and organizations, terrorism and counterterrorism and human rights.
His research interests center around human rights and social movements and have branched out into two distinct directions.
“The first direction explores the ways in which post-conflict states address the legacy of systematic human rights abuses, primarily through the use of prosecutions and the creation of truth commissions,” Polizzi said. “The other strand of research analyzes opposition and support over resource extraction, mainly in Latin America.
Since the beginning of his time with the university in 2016, Polizzi says he has seen some challenges at the university.
“A lot has happened in the time that I’ve been at the University. I certainly didn’t expect to have to navigate a pandemic,” Polizzi said. “Even through the difficult times of the pandemic, I have always enjoyed my time working with students.”
During his time at the university, Polizzi has played a role in mentoring students through their undergraduate studies, the process of graduate school applications and with various research projects.
“I have always enjoyed my time working with students,” Polizzi said. “I have directed a few research projects and mentored some undergraduate students in their pursuit of a graduate degree. I recently saw the first cohort of students who I taught from freshman year to their final semester in college.”
Polizzi’s favorite part of his job at Murray State has been mentoring students through their research projects.
“I love being in the classroom, but it is especially gratifying to see students take a topic that they are interested in, refine it into a testable hypothesis, and then collect and analyze data,” Polizzi said. “I can’t fully describe how much it means to me to see my students succeed.”