Chair's Welcome
Greetings from the PSCI Chair’s office!
Thank you so much to those of you who have provided support for our department’s many activities over the past year. Because of you, political science honors students have been able to conduct meaningful research and attend conferences to present their original work. Such hands-on experiences are tremendously valuable to their education and for pursuing their future goals. One of our top initiatives for the coming years will be to make additional immersive experiences possible for our wonderful undergraduate students. For instance, we are working toward making paid internship opportunities available to PSCI students. We are also investing in support of student civic engagement and paid research apprenticeships for undergraduates.
Your generosity has also supported groundbreaking research by faculty and graduate students. As political landscapes continue to shift, we are committed to the generation of new knowledge and to sharing those new insights with our students in and out of the classroom. In this newsletter, you’ll find updates on some of these recent research projects. Professors Regina Bateson, Anand Sokhey, and Ken Bickers help us to better understand current American politics and elections and how to think differently about polling projections. We also highlight the work of Professors Andrew Philips and Jaroslav Tir on the crucial topics of economic shocks and ethnic conflict. Check out our dynamic American Politics Research Lab site, as well, to learn more about our research activities on the vital topic of American democracy and the Keller Center on the First Amendment. Looking to get connected and involved? Please consider enrolling in an online course through Continuing Education, and please consider making a donation to support our students, faculty, and programs. Your generosity makes a lasting impact, and every little bit helps.
Keeping you up to date on our department community: this year we welcome two new tenure-track faculty members. Professor Michelangelo Landgrave and Professor Marayna Martinez are outstanding additions to our department community. Both have been instrumental in the creation of our new Lab on Research on Accountability, Civics, and Equity, a center for inclusive research and community on campus. We have also hired one of our outstanding former graduate students, Allie Palmer, who is teaching critical courses such as Constitutional Law and US Congress as a Teaching Assistant Professor. We are so fortunate to have these new colleagues.
Finally, in very difficult news to convey, we must include here that Professor Sven Steinmo passed away this year. Prof. Steinmo was a huge figure in our department and in the field of political science. If you had the pleasure of knowing Sven, then like us, you might scarcely believe in the loss of somebody with such boundless energy and purpose. For an interview with Prof. Steinmo that captures some of his extraordinary nature, please see: /polisci/2018/04/19/meet-sven-steinmo. His notable TEDxCU talk may be viewed here: We are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear colleague.
In the spirit of appreciating life and learning, we wish you and yours health, peace, and happiness.
Jennifer Fitzgerald
Chair, Department of Political Science