Lives of Consequence
Francine D'Amico '80
Teaching Professor, Syracuse University’s Maxwell School
An accomplished scholar and professor, Francine D’Amico ’80 is an authority on international security and diplomacy, international law and human rights. She serves as Director of the Undergraduate Studies Program in International Relations at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, where she teaches courses examining international relations through the lenses of race, gender, war and the United Nations. She joined the Maxwell School in 2000. In recognition of her accomplishments in teaching, advising, service and curricular and co-curricular development, D’Amico was named a teaching professor in 2018.
With HWS Professor Emeritus of Political Science Peter R. Beckman, D’Amico co-edited two anthologies, the 1994 book Women, Gender, and World Politics: Perspectives, Policies, and Prospects, and the 1995 follow up, Women in World Politics: An Introduction. D’Amico’s scholarship exploring the intersection of gender, sexuality, politics and policy has also been included in anthologies and scholarly periodicals such as Sexualities in World Politics: How LGBTQ Claims Shape International Relations; Making Sense of International Relations Theory 2E (Iraq); One of the Guys: Women as Aggressors and Torturers; and The Politics of Gay Rights, edited by HWS Professor of Public Policy Craig Rimmerman. D’Amico also contributed a chapter, “Race-ing and Gendering the Military Closet,” to Rimmerman’s 1996 anthology, Gay Rights, Military Wrongs: Political Perspectives on Gays and Lesbians in the Military.
D’Amico’s current research is on the effects of the change in the election process for UN Secretary-General, which she plans to present at the International Studies Association conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in March 2019. A recipient of a 2017-18 Meredith Professors Teaching Recognition Award, Syracuse University, D’Amico will use the prize to help conduct interviews with former candidates regarding their perspectives on the experience and process to complete her research.
D’Amico was named Faculty Advisor of the Year in 2010-11 by Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences and again in 2011-12 by the Sigma Iota Rho National Honor Society for International Studies. She currently serves on the University’s Senate and LGBT Committee as well as the Academic Committee and the Standards Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences. During the 2015-16 academic year, she was co-chair of the Chancellor’s Work Group on Diversity and Inclusion and is currently a member of the University Council on Diversity and Inclusion. She is a member of Women in International Security, the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association.
In addition to her teaching roles and university service, D’Amico directs academic advising and serves as the faculty adviser for the International Relations Learning Community, the Model United Nations Club and Team, Sigma Iota Rho Honor Society and the SU-UNICEF and OXFAM@SU student organizations. Under her mentorship, the Model UN Team has been named Outstanding Delegation at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York four times since 2012.
At HWS, D’Amico earned a double major in English and political science, was a member of the William Smith swimming and diving team, served as a resident adviser and was the recipient of the Colleges’ Geneva Scholarship Award, The White Essay Prize and the Melissa Muliken Award in Sports. After graduating magna cum laude, she earned a Ph.D. from Cornell University and went on to teach in the political science departments at Ithaca College, Le Moyne College, SUNY Cortland and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has served as past president of the Geneva Scholarship Associates.