Bio

Dr. Amanda Ross Edwards joined the SPIA faculty in Fall of 2004.  She is an associate teaching professor and Director of the Leadership in the Public Sector Online Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program (2025-present, 2011-2018).   She teaches courses related to law and justice, leadership, public policy and American government, including specialized courses in public policy, law and sport; civil discourse in an era of polarization; and gender, law and policy. Congruent with her interest in interdisciplinary perspectives, she serves as affiliated faculty for the Politics, Philosophy and Economics minor and from 2023-2025, served as the Director of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program.

An experienced online instructor, she has been teaching courses both online and face to face since 2003 and is Quality Matters (QM) E-Learning Certified.  She has also been awarded multiple distance education and technology grants for course redesign and educational innovation, has co-led several workshops on fostering online group work, and served as Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) Faculty Fellow from 2016-2018.

In 2015, she served as the Interim Director for Language Training Center at NCSU, facilitating the renewal of a $2.3 million-dollar Department of Defense grant and the hiring of a new director. Prior to joining the faculty at NCSU, she served as a visiting professor at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT from 2002-2004.

Office Hours

By appointment only

Publications

• Savchak-Trogdon, Elisha and Amanda Ross Edwards. “Why Are State Judges Among Us? Public Service and Self-Presentation,” Judicature, Vol. 100, No. 2, May 2016, pp. 20-29.
• Savchak-Trogdon, Elisha and Amanda Ross Edwards. “The New Tradition of Judicial Outreach: Survey Evidence from the States,” The Judges’ Journal, Vol. 52, No. 3, Summer 2013, pp. 32-24.
• “Why Sport? The Development of Sport as a Policy Issue in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,” Journal of Policy History, Volume 22, Number 3, 2010, pp. 300-336
• Ross Edwards, Amanda. 2007. “Additional Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy: A Step in the Right Direction.” In You Decide!: Current Debates in American Politics. Edited by John T. Rourke. (New York, NY: Longman Press).
• Ross Edwards, Amanda. 2005. “The Department of Education and Title IX: Flawed Implementation and Interpretation.” In You Decide! Current Debates in American Politics. Edited by John T. Rourke. (New York, NY: Longman Press).

Most Recent Presentations

• Professional Development Session, “Engaged On-Line Education: Transitioning to Virtual • Learning During a Pandemic,” Midwest Political Science Association, June 5, 2020.
• “Reflections on a QM-based Course Improvement Pilot Program,” with Bethanne Tobey, Bethany Smith et al. UNC Cause 2018, October 3, 2018.
• “Teaching Political Science Courses Online: Costs, Benefits and Quality Control,” with Michael Cobb. American Political Science Association Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 2017.
• “Examining Judicial Outreach Among Federal Judges,” with Elisha Savchak-Trogdon. American Political Science Association Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 2017.
• “Lessons learned from a large course redesign in the social sciences: Can technology be used to improve efficiency in the use of departmental resources, maintain quality and rigor in the course material, and achieve consistent assessment across graders?” with Michael Cobb. Online Learning Consortium Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 2017.
• “The Repeal of the Direct Combat Exclusion Rule: The Relevance of Demographics and Institutional Structure on Attitude Toward Policy Change,” with Holly Danford and David Walton. Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, April 2016.
• “Teaching with Technology.” Roundtable Presentation. Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, April 2016.
• “Meeting Challenges in an Online Learning Environment,” Innovations in Online Learning Conference, San Antonio, TX, May 2014.
• “Judges Among Us: A Look at Judicial Outreach in the States,” with Elisha Carol Savchak. North Carolina State University. Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, April 2014.