meet James Toole 

Associate Professor of Political Science

Dr. James Toole is associate professor of in the Department of Political Science at Purdue Fort Wayne. He holds a Ph.D. from Brandeis University and a B.A. from Haverford College. 

In 1996-1997, he researched the development of post-communist political parties as a Fulbright scholar in Budapest, Hungary. In the late 1990s and 2000s, he published mainly on the development of political parties in the newly democratic political systems of Central and Eastern Europe. 

His current research addresses transitional justice, international human rights, foreign aid, and international ethics. He teaches the Political Science Department’s introductory courses on international relations and comparative politics as well as its lower-level research methods course. 

His upper-level courses address topics including international peacekeeping, international human rights law, global citizenship, ethnic conflict and nationalism, democracy and authoritarianism, US foreign policy, and East European politics. 

Since 2008, he has served as the primary faculty advisor to PFW’s Model United Nations team.