In the spring of each year, the MPSA holds one of the largest political science conferences in the discipline. In 2009, more than 5,100 presenters from the United States and 55 countries throughout the world presented more than 3,900 papers. And, while declining acceptance rates have made it more difficult to appear on the program, networking opportunities are increasing due to additional MPSA-hosted receptions. As our attendee survey and comments from past attendees attest, this is a popular conference.

Traditionally, the conference is held at the historic and newly renovated Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. The oldest continuously operating hotel in North American, the Palmer House boasts a new spa and gym, a Starbucks, and cuisine from the newly opened restaurants on site.

Chicago is a great city to visit in the spring, with sporting events (the Cubs as well as that other baseball team in Chicago), dining options, a thriving theatre district and, just a couple blocks from the Palmer House, the Art Institute of Chicago, Millenium Park, and Grant Park. We will return to Chicago for future conferences (to see future conference dates, click here).

Conference presentations are organized by topic in more than 60 sections based on different subfields or areas of study. Many of these are interdisciplinary and draw scholars from different fields, providing a variety of perspectives. With more than 50 different sessions at any given time slot during the day, there are many opportunities to hear cutting-edge research.

Each year, the MPSA provides a limited number of scholarships for conference registration, travel, and childcare assistance on a first-come basis to eligible individuals. For more information, click here.