Sarah Marusek

Dr. Sarah Marusek is a Full, Tenured Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Political Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. She also serves as the Pre-Law Certificate Coordinator. With a PhD in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2008), her research focuses on law’s manifestation in everyday environments, including parking spaces, volcanic landscapes, and vehicular infrastructures. Her work bridges legal studies, cultural analysis, and spatial politics, emphasizing material legalities and legal semiotics.

Education:

• PhD in Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2008

Research Interests:
Dr. Marusek examines how legal frameworks interact with cultural, spatial, and material contexts. Her scholarship investigates topics such as:
- Informal governance through parking regulations
- Socio-legal challenges in dynamic environments (e.g., volcanically active regions)
- The semiotics of automotive spaces and their legal implications
- Legal representation in everyday landscapes.

Key Contributions:
Her three monographs include Politics of Parking: Rights, Identity, and Property (2012), Law and the Kinetic Environment: Regulating Dynamic Landscapes (2021), and Law, Space, and the Vehicular Environment: Pavement and Asphalt (2023). She has also authored articles in journals such as Law Text Culture, Semiotica, and International Journal for the Semiotics of Law.

Awards:

• 2011 Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Teaching & Engagement:
Courses include Visual Politics, Law and Culture, Legal Geography, and Civil Liberties. She advises the interdisciplinary Pre-Law Certificate program and has held visiting faculty positions in Italy, France, Sweden, and Australia.

Editorial Work:
Co-Editor of Springer's Law and Visual Jurisprudence and Living Signs of Law book series.