Mary Desjeans
Adjunct Instructor
Office Hours: Spring 2020: MW, 10-10:50 or by appointment
Phone: 843.953.5724 (departmental office)
E-mail: Desjeansmf@cofc.edu
Mary Desjeans is an adjunct instructor offering courses such as Intelligence and US National Security and International Terrorism and Counterterrorism. Previously, Dr. Desjeans was Professional in Residence in the Department of Political Science, fulfilling a two year assignment of a teaching program in the Department of Political Science. She has offered a Freshman Year Seminar on Intelligence: Facts or Fiction and a graduate course on Leadership in Government as part of the Public Administration Program.
Dr. Desjeans earned her Ph.D. at Duke University and an M.A. and B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her academic background is in Nineteen and Twentieth Century Russian and Soviet History. After a year teaching at the University of Notre Dame, she joined the CIA to work on Soviet political and military issues, taking on analysis of the non-Russian former Soviet Republics when the USSR dissolved in 1991. Since that time, she has moved into managerial and leadership positions and served s Director of several Directorate of Intelligence offices, including the Office of Russian and European Analysis, the Office of Terrorism Analysis, and the Office of Policy Support. Immediately before coming to the College of Charleston, she served as one of four seniors who headed the Directorate of Intelligence, working on worldwide substantive issues and Directorate strategic planning. She is now retired from the CIA.
Education
Ph.D., 19th Century Russian History, Duke University
M.A., Modern European History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Fields of specialization: Intelligence and U.S. National Security issues, International Terrorism and Counterterrorism; Russian History