Leonardo Gentil-Fernandes is an assistant professor in the department. He joined in fall 2024, coming from a position as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland. He completed his PhD in 2023 at the University of Pittsburgh with specializations in international relations and research methods. 

His areas of research focus on violent non-state armed actors, and how these groups form, interact with one another, and govern, especially over issues related to environmental hazards and climate change. His research has been published in Comparative Political Studies, International Interactions, and Security Studies. He is also a co-author of the forthcoming book Rebel Governance in the Age of Climate Change. Gentil-Fernandes teaches courses on civil wars and conflict processes.

Taylor Kinsley Chewning will join the department as an assistant professor this fall. She is set to complete her PhD in 2025 at Florida State University, specializing in international relations. 

Her research focuses on political behavior and public opinion, primarily within the context of American foreign policy, conflict processes, and cybersecurity. Chewning has expertise in survey research and experimental methodologies. 

Her dissertation explores key issues in international relations such as 1) how leaders can mitigate the cybersecurity dilemma when traditional solutions fail, 2) whether threats for cyberattacks are credible, and 3) whether the public is willing to sacrifice human rights for security when making an alliance choice. 

Her publications have appeared in Political Behavior, Journal of Experimental Political Science, Journal of Law and Courts and World Development. 

Chewning enjoys teaching introductory courses in International Relations, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in American foreign policy and research methodology.

Brooklyn Walker also will be joining the department as an assistant professor in the fall. She holds a PhD from the University of Kansas (2022) with concentrations in American and comparative politics. Walker is coming to UT from a position at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas. 

She is interested in how people come to think of themselves as members of politicized groups and in the effects of politicized identities on intergroup relations and public opinion. Her projects have explored the intersections of Christian nationalism and religious and racial group identities. She also researches in the areas of political psychology, racial and ethnic politics, and gender and politics. Her work has appeared in Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics, and Politics and Religion. 

Walker enjoys teaching introductory courses in American government and politics as well as courses on public opinion, religion and politics, and identity.