Meet the Faculty
John B. Taylor
Interim Provost and Dean of the College
Professor of Political Science, Emeritus
Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs, Emeritus
As Chief Academic Officer, John is responsible for overseeing academic budgets, the library, and faculty recruitment and retention; facilitating faculty governance, the scheduling of courses and the enforcement of academic standards; supervising the assessment of academic programs; and representing the faculty to external constituencies. John is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dickinson College and earned his doctorate in politics at Princeton University.
E-mail: jtaylor2@washcoll.edu
Phone: 410-778-7202, (800) 422-1782, ext. 7202
Office: Bunting Hall, First Floor
Education
- B.A., Dickinson College, 1964
- M.A., Princeton University, 1966
- Ph.D., Princeton University, 1972
Published Work
Right to Counsel and Privilege against Self-Incrimination
Biography
John B. Taylor, Chair of the Department of Political Science from 1997 to 2007, graduated from Dickinson College in 1964 and received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1972. He joined the Washington College faculty in that year and retired in 2009. He is a specialist in American constitutional law and history and has published articles on these subjects in the Review of Politics and the Journal of Supreme Court History. He has been a guest lecturer on American law and politics at l'Université Pierre Mendès France in Grenoble, France, and the University of Hull in the United Kingdom, and in 2004 ABC-CLIO Press published his book, Right to Counsel and Privilege against Self-Incrimination: Rights and Liberties under the Law, as part of its America's Freedom's Series.
Professor Taylor was a pre-law adviser, assisting students in planning an appropriate schedule of classes and in selecting law schools and preparing applications. Three of his courses introduced students to constitutional law. Constitutional Powers and the Judicial Process took a close look at the Supreme Court as a political and legal institution and explored the central role it has played in balancing governmental power in the constitutional system. Civil Liberties examined the great issues of governmental power versus individual rights in such areas as freedom of speech, press, and religion, racial and sexual equality, and privacy. Law and Society considered issues of police tactics versus the rights of the accused, introduced students to the operating realities of the criminal justice system, and allowed them to do field work with the States Attorney, the Sheriff's Department, or the Department of Parole and Probation.
Professor Taylor also taught the basic Introduction to Politics and American Government courses and raised the great normative questions of politics in History of Political Thought and American Political Thought. Over the years he supervised senior theses on such topics as Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg, the use of DNA evidence in criminal prosecution, the morality and legality of assisted suicide, and the debate over affirmative action. His basic goal as a teacher was to help students understand how politics really works and why politics really matters.
In addition to his professional pursuits, Professor Taylor enjoys time with his family, reading, classical music, and sports.
WC Magazine Appearances
Campus Event Appearances
Look for John in these event photos.