Pfaculty Deans

Image of Erica C and Zoe M with three polar bears

Greetings Pfoho!  

We are so honored and overjoyed to be Pfaculty Deans of this extraordinary community!  

A little about us: Erica hails from Ohio and New Mexico, and Zoe is a proud Seattleite. When we’re not at Pfoho, we both teach at Harvard Kennedy School (where we love having College students in our classes). Our own residential experiences in college had profound impacts on our lives—fostering lifelong friendships, intellectual curiosity, and care for the whole person—that we hope to give back to the Pfoho Pfamily.  

Erica studies political violence, social movements, and international politics. Erica is particularly interested in how people effectively resist authoritarianism and push for systemic change, and in using social science tools and evidence to support movement-led political transformation. They teach classes on how unarmed resistance works (cross-listed as GOVT 1134 Civil Resistance), how to understand terrorism and responses to terrorism (cross-listed as GOVT 1730 The Politics of Terrorism), and an introductory course for master’s students concentrating in international and global affairs (IGA 100). Currently, Erica serves as the Academic Dean for Faculty Engagement at the Kennedy School.  

Zoe studies armed conflict, African politics, gender, and inequality. She is especially interested in understanding the dynamics of violence in civil wars and pathways to post-conflict reintegration in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and DR Congo. Zoe teaches in the Kennedy School core curriculum on Race and Racism in International and Intersectional Perspectives (DPI 386M) and a year-long capstone for public policy students. She also teaches electives on Africa in Global Politics (IGA 632) and Global Feminisms (IGA 390), open to all Harvard students. She’s particularly excited about interdisciplinary research and using mixed methods to better understand and overcome historically entrenched inequalities, including those involving access to knowledge and knowledge production in academia.  

Recently, Erica and Zoe have teamed up to write a book together called “Bread and Roses” about the role of women at the frontlines of revolutionary movements from 1945-2020. (Spoiler alert: inclusive movements are more successful and lead to more democratic outcomes!)     

Beyond Harvard, we can usually be found at Two Maple Farm, a small farmhouse with a bit of land we love to care for and cultivate in Western Massachusetts. There, we enjoy misty mornings; boiling maple sap into syrup; growing flowers, vegetables, and fruit; raising chickens (one of our hens won a blue ribbon at the town fair!); learning to listen to the land and sharing abundance with our community through our seasonal farmstand. We also love all genres of music – Erica has a penchant for 80s ballads and Zoe for Prince and Whitney. As a family, we enjoy volunteering, spending time outdoors (hiking, fly-fishing, and snowshoeing), traveling, reading poetry, following current events, and learning from our students and Pfohomies. Most of all, we adore watching our brilliant and brave daughter discover the world around her.  

Eventually, you might meet our plucky dog, Bentley, a terrier-herding mix whom we adopted from a rescue in Arkansas. His favorite activities are walking, barking, and herding people into the same room. Although he is anxious about new people, Bentley is a lover, not a fighter. He responds very well to confident dog lovers who are calming and affectionate. Once you’re one of his people, he will dance every time he sees you. He lives for walks, treats, sniff tours, belly rubs, and licking your plate.   

We are so excited to dine together and to attend performances, sports and cultural events, and academic seminars with you. At Pfoho, we are keen to go on New England-y excursions, celebrate holidays, birthdays, and major milestones together, and to carry each other through tough times. Most importantly, we are eager to do whatever we can to make sure that you experience a warm welcome and feel it’s truly your pfoHome! 

 

Zoe Marks

Lecturer in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School