As she prepares for her July 1, 2026 appointment as chair of Notre Dame’s Political Science Department, Professor Emilia Justyna Powell has occasion to reflect on her career at Notre Dame and the longstanding family tradition from which she came that ignited her academic interest in legal traditions.
Powell is a Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law. Additionally, she is a faculty fellow with the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government (CCCG) and the Kellogg Institute, and affiliated with numerous different centers and institutes on campus, such as the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, and the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion.
Powell was born and raised in Grudziądz, Poland, and pursued a Master’s degree in law at the University of Nicholas Copernicus in Toruń. During her time in law school, she also received a diploma in British Common Law from the University of Cambridge and a diploma in European Law from the Jean Monnet Center for European Studies. Upon moving to the United States, Powell went on to continue her education, receiving both her masters and Ph.D. in Political Science from Florida State University.
Growing up in a long family tradition of lawyers, Powell describes herself as extraordinarily drawn to questions and concepts of legal tradition from an early age, particularly in comparative law and international law. “I always loved the history of law and how the different legal traditions breathe, how they operate. It’s just fascinating to me,” she explained. Powell continued saying that when she “came to the United States and did [her] Ph.D. in political science, [she] always gravitated towards questions of law. Even though my professors did not specialize in international law or domestic legal traditions,” she noted, “I just always wrote my papers about it.”
After completing her Ph.D. at Florida State University, Powell went on to become an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Georgia Southern University, then at University of Alabama, before accepting a position at the University of Notre Dame in 2011. When choosing to come to Notre Dame, Powell noted the interdisciplinary research appeal that Notre Dame fostered, providing her with an optimal environment to combine both her passion for political science as well as law with her concurrent appointment with the law school.
Beyond its interdisciplinary opportunities, it was the University's values and dedication to its mission that attracted her. Powell noted the “wonderful atmosphere” consisting of both “exceptional undergraduate and graduate students,” coupled with the University’s serious academic pursuit. What most drew her to Notre Dame, though, was its distinct emphasis on human flourishing: “Notre Dame is a very unique environment, not only for students but for professors. It has a long tradition of caring for the human being and for holistic human development, not only knowledge but also faith and human flourishing.”
At Notre Dame, Powell’s current academic research encompasses peaceful resolution of disputes, the Islamic legal tradition, and modern constitutionalism. Much of Powell’s work has focused on how countries resolve their disputes peacefully according to international law, noting that this “scholarship bridges the study of international law and international relations [which] is really important to the study of global peace.” Her work in this area has been widely recognized among the international law academic community, earning her the “2025 Best Book Award” from the International Law Section of the International Studies Association for her 2023 book, Islamic Law and International Law: Peaceful Resolution of Disputes (Oxford University Press), which received two best book awards in 2022 from the International Studies Association, International Law Section, and the Religion and International Relations Section.
In her most recent work, Powell’s research has focused on the emerging questions in law and global governance. She recently completed her forthcoming edited volume, Global Order in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Oxford University Press), co-edited with Notre Dame Associate Vice President for Research for Special Initiatives Jarek Nabrzyski, who is also a concurrent professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Powell is also working on a book with Christina Bambrick, Filip Family Assistant Professor of Political Science and faculty fellow with the CCCG and the Kellogg Institute, that examines competing legal authorities in constitutions around the world.
This book centers around the competing authorities of state law, local customary law, and international law. “The contribution of the book is that it focuses on legal pluralistic constitutions and conceptualizes competition in constitutions as competition between different legal traditions or legal authorities,” she explained, “So this is a project in which we’re using cutting-edge methodology to questions of fundamental importance to the study of comparative constitutionalism.”
Powell described the CCCG as being "extraordinarily supportive of her scholarship” and a major support in helping her put her passion for research into practice. “Every book I have ever published while at Notre Dame and every article or research project, for the most part, has been substantially funded by CCCG. The center has always promoted all of my work.”
Director of the CCCG Vincent Phillip Muñoz said of Powell that she “exemplifies the kind of serious and disciplined inquiry that the center strives to cultivate, bringing both analytical rigor and a deep appreciation for the moral and institutional complexity of law that she cultivates in students.”
Powell highlighted the Center’s continued support of her research projects and contribution to her formation, stating, “This year the Center has generously agreed to help me study maritime law in Malta over the summer. So I would say that the Center has been foundational in my ability to explore legal traditions of any kind, be it maritime law, territorial sovereignty law, or the Islamic legal tradition.”
Furthermore, Powell’s teaching is closely affiliated with the Center, noting that “[many] of her courses are cross-listed [with] Constitutional Studies.” Every fall semester, she has the pleasure of teaching “Islamic Law and Constitutions” at the law school, which is also cross-listed with Constitutional Studies. In the spring semester, she also teaches a writing seminar on “Peaceful Resolution of International Disputes.”
As she continued to reflect on her time at Notre Dame, Powell cited her annual summer study abroad course in Poland as one of the most meaningful aspects of her tenure, stating, “The highlight of my tenure here at Notre Dame is to lead a study abroad, international law and the politics of genocide in Poland every summer. I have done it multiple years and this is a deep personal experience for students that's life changing for them." Though the topic of the course is somber, Powell describes herself as always “looking forward to seeing her students change [into] better people” because of it.
In addition to her scholarly work and notable teaching contributions at Notre Dame, Powell was recently named the incoming chair of Notre Dame’s Political Science Department. She is “very much looking forward to serving the department and helping my fellow faculty members here at the department to achieve their own professional goals as scholars, as teachers and researchers.”
Said Dean of the College of Arts and Letters Ken Scheve about her appointment, “Emilia brings a strong record of leadership, teaching, and expertise to this role. Her dedication and vision will serve the Department of Political Science well as it continues to build on its many strengths and pursue new opportunities in the years ahead.”