Laura Zanotti named chair of the Department of Political Science
From United Nations peacekeeping missions to groundbreaking research on quantum entanglement in international relations, Laura Zanotti’s career has spanned continents and disciplines – experience she’ll bring to her new role as chair of the Department of Political Science.
Zanotti joined the department in 2006 as associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2019. Her appointment as chair, effective last month, follows that of former department chair and University Distinguished Professor, Timothy Luke.
Zanotti said her first goal will be to listen to the needs of the department and the college. She also will emphasize the importance of collaboration and rebuild a sense of community following the pandemic.
“One of my immediate goals is to rekindle the cohesiveness of the social relations of the department and create opportunities to learn from each other,” she said. “I plan to craft a communication strategy that showcases our department areas of excellence, and I look forward to partnering with university administrators to strengthen interdisciplinary research connections that amplify our global impact.”
She also hopes to continue fostering critical thinking and curiosity in students.
“One thing I tell my students at the beginning of the semester is that if at the end they have more questions than they had the day they started, I will have done my job,” she said.
Zanotti’s research and teaching explores critical political theory, international ethics, peacekeeping, and nongovernmental organizations. In recent years, she has become a leading global expert on exploring the relevance of the worldviews offered by quantum entanglement ontology, a theory that the smallest things in the universe, such as subatomic particles, are connected across any distance. Her research challenges the idea that political outcomes follow predictable patterns and instead draws on quantum theory to support interconnected and ethically aware approaches to decision-making.
Zanotti’s interest in political science grew from her experience as a U.N. peacekeeper. She served as an administrator and political officer in New York and spent years participating in peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Croatia.
“I joined the U.N. because I wanted to change the world,” she said. “The reality of politics hit me, and I understood that the world was much more complex than I suspected. I realized how deals are made and that there are lots of not necessarily rational or linear elements that shape political outcomes.”
Zanotti credited Jean Marie Guéhenno, former U.N. undersecretary for peacekeeping, with inspiring her research, teaching, and leadership through his emphasis on classical studies as a foundation for philosophical and ethical thinking.
Before joining Virginia Tech, Zanotti was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute and served as a visiting professor at the School of International Relations at Trento University.
“I am so pleased that Dr. Zanotti has assumed leadership of the Department of Political Science at this critical time,” said Laura Belmonte, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. “She brings wide-ranging experience, keen insights, and a passion for teaching and research. I look forward to having her on the college’s Executive Council.”
Zanotti is the author of two books, “Ontological Entanglements, Agency and Ethics in International Relations: Exploring the Crossroads” and “Governing Disorder: United Nations Peace Operations, International Security, and Democratization in the Post-Cold War Era.” She is the co-author of two additional books and the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles.
She holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Florida International University, an MBA from SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, and a laurea in philosophy from the University of Pavia.
