Georgia Nilsson, Lucas Alward, Jaydeep Bhatia, Sean Stephens, Adam Irish This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Summer 2016 issue. The graduate student experience risks becoming a monastic existence of classes, reading, and research necessary to master a literature, pass comps, and write a thesis. But there exist a number of vibrant communities…
Elizabeth A. Bennion, Indiana University South Bend This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Fall 2017 issue. Civic engagement initiatives take many forms. These include, but are not limited to, service‐learning, community‐based learning, community‐based research, and other forms of experiential education. The list of possibilities for promoting civic knowledge and skills is almost…
Jessica Candela, MPA Student, California State University, Chico This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Fall 2017 issue. Faculty at the university I attend have expressed interest in a guide to the undergraduate honors thesis (UHT), a high‐ impact practice (“Engagement Indicators & High‐Impact Practices” 2015). In this piece, I intertwine my reflections…
Douglas Graney, High School Teacher This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Fall 2017 issue. American Teacher‐Adventures in the Classroom and Our Nation’s Capital chronicles a career as a social studies teacher. Starting first in Connecticut and upstate, N.Y. you will read the struggles of a young teacher learning his craft in different…
Renée Van Vechten, Professor of Political Science, University of Redlands This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Summer 2018 issue. Why lecture when your students can practice to learn? Realizing that lecturing alone is the least effective method for teaching “how a bill becomes a law,” I regularly incorporate a three-day bill passage…
Katherine M. Robiadek, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Summer 2018 issue. Overview of the UW-Madison Leadership Framework When thinking about leadership in a democracy, it is often in conjunction with elected officials or office holders. However, in general, citizens in a democracy…
Elizabeth A. Bennion, Indiana University South Bend This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Summer 2018 issue. One of the greatest joys of being a political science professor is that we have the scholarly expertise and teaching skills required to engage our students and broader community in learning experiences that foster civic knowledge,…
Elizabeth A. Bennion, Indiana University South Bend This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Spring 2019 issue. Instructors, program managers, and departments sometimes feel overwhelmed at the thought of creating an assessment plan. Keep in mind that the best assessment plans provide educators with useful and meaningful information to guide future practice. It…
Anita Chadha, Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Social Science, University of Houston, Downtown This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Spring 2019 issue. For the past twelve years, I have involved my class in introductory American politics in Houston, TX in an online collaboration discussing current and controversial issues in American…
Nattawan Junboonta, Doctoral Candidate, Rutgers University This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Spring 2019 issue. Digital Era and Political Deliberations In recent years, it seems that the concept of public discourse is viewed as an ancient ritual practiced in the distant past. The ability to meaningfully speak and listen to one another…