Faculty Member Discusses Role of Possible First Gentleman

Jean Wahl Harris, Ph.D., a political science professor and expert on first ladies, weighs in on what we might expect from a first gentleman in the White House in a recent Huffington Post article.

“The primary role is social hostess: decorating the White House, holding events when foreign diplomats are here, giving tours,” said Jean Wahl Harris, a political science professor at The University of Scranton, who has studied the role of the first lady for nearly two decades. “Many of the expectations are very gendered, not things we would expect men to do, like hostessing ― but I think the expectations for the [male] spouse are not going to be the same.”

Dr. Harris joined the University faculty in the fall of 1987. She earned a B.A. in law and society, an M.A. in political science and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She has served the University as the director of the Women’s Studies program (serving as the first director after spearheading the development of the Women’s Studies program) and as chairperson of the Political Science Department. She also coordinates the University’s Ready to Run program, which is a campaign training program targeting women in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Read the Huffington Post article, here.