MPSA Blog
Beyond the Hat: Will the Trump Coalition Hold in 2020?
by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University Will President Trump’s Coalition hold in 2020? Hardly anyone seems to be asking this question, at least in public these days. It is up to us political scientists to remind voters that some of the conventional wisdom…
Can Gerrymandering be Measured? Here Come the Mathematicians
By Brian Hollenbeck and Michael Smith of Emporia State University Just weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court acted to sharply limit the role of the courts with regards to partisan gerrymandering. In Rucho v. Common Cause, the Court majority upheld the Davis v. Bandemer case of 1976, reaffirming that…
A Moment to Take Stock (and Keep Advocating)
By Beatrice Gurwitz, National Humanities Alliance Photo credit: Morrison Photography For three years in a row, the Trump administration has called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and other humanities funding streams. In both 2017 and 2018, thanks to…
Rethinking the Political Science Major - MPSA Roundtable (audio)
This roundtable Rethinking the Political Science Major (audio), chaired by John T. Ishiyama of University of North Texas and featuring J. Cherie Strachan of Central Michigan University, Whitney Lauraine Court of College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, and Amber Dickinson of…
MPSA Member Profile: Ajenai Clemmons
Ajenai Clemmons is a Ph.D. Candidate in public policy with a concentration in political science at Duke University. Her academic research focuses on the most important factors that help and harm the police-community relationship, focusing especially on African Americans and European Muslims.…
Show Me the Money: Securing Research Funding
By Charmaine N. Willis of University of Albany One of the most important parts of conducting any research project, regardless of its methodology, is securing research funding. The recent MPSA conference offered several roundtables dedicated to research funding; in this blog, I cover the roundtable…
Public Engagement: Simplify Without Being Simple
By James Steur at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign As a first-generation student, one of my primary goals as an academic is pursuing public scholarship. I want to write in a clear and engaging way for general audiences so they understand political science research and why it makes a…
Keeping It Real: Political Science and Civic Engagement
By Michael Smith of Emporia State University Great #MPSA19 panel discussion regarding blogging, Twitter and podcasting w/@LaraMBrownPhD @NaymaQayum @JustinBullock14 @GreggRMurray and Michael Smith from @emporiastate. Happy to chair such an insightful panel discussion. pic.twitter.com/HzVztFhzJd —…
Fieldwork: Ethical Considerations, Funding, and Data Collection Methods
By Charmaine N. Willis of University of Albany The recent MPSA conference offered many valuable roundtables related to professional development for a variety of populations including graduate students. I had the opportunity to attend the roundtable about how to do fieldwork, an important one for…
How to Thrive in Graduate School (Whatever That Means)
By Colleen Wood of Columbia University In addition to thematic panels, the 77th Annual MPSA Conference offered a wide range of roundtables on professional development including practical discussion of fieldwork and research tools and bigger debates on pedagogical practices and public engagement.…