Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Reflections By Elizabeth I. Dorssom (DorssomE@lincolnu.edu) College students rely heavily on social media for news, and substantial research shows that these platforms shape young people’s political knowledge and engagement (Boulianne 2009; Sweet-Cushman 2019; Tierney 2024). In previous work, I described how integrating social media into introductory political science…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Reflections By Charles Crabtree (Charles.D.Crabtree@dartmouth.edu),[1] Devontae Lacasse (Devontae.Lacasse@dartmouth.edu), Eleanor Schifino (eleanorschifinodartmouth@gmail.com), Jayanth Uppaluri (jvuppaluri@gmail.com) Introduction Across political science departments, we’re seeing growing undergraduate interest in writing honors theses. Students view these projects as capstone experiences that offer the opportunity to pursue independent research, develop substantive expertise, and sharpen…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Reflections By Nathaniel Smith (nsmith2@nebrwesleyan.edu) In an increasingly interconnected world, the traditional classroom model faces the challenge of adequately preparing students for global citizenship. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) offers a compelling solution, fostering cross-cultural understanding and collaborative work through virtual interaction. This essay explores my recent experience…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Reviews The advice faculty typically get on how to address Generative AI in their teaching varies between technocratic optimism, doomsday pessimism, pragmatic suggestions, and ambivalence. The ANALOG Inspiration[1] card deck grounds itself pragmatically in the trying context that we find ourselves in the modern neoliberal university (with diminishing…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Reflections By Kerri Ryer (ryerkerri@fhda.edu) Research strongly demonstrates a positive correlation between participation in mentoring programs and student success (Kitchen et al. 2025). Transfer student participation in a mentoring program positively impacts their likelihood of degree attainment (Dinh and Zhang 2021), as well as their self-confidence and academic…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Dear PSE Colleagues, Happy New Year to all! By the time this is published, I’m hoping this finds everyone well rested and rejuvenated from the winter holiday, ready to tackle the demands of winter/spring terms. As a reminder, the proposal submission deadline for the Annual Meeting (September 3-…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Teacher Scholar By Elizabeth A. Bennion (ebennion@iu.edu) Political science educators face an unusual paradox. Faculty are asked to cultivate informed, active citizens at the very moment when biology, psychology, and neuroscience increasingly reveal stable influences on political attitudes and behaviors. For many instructors, this raises an unsettling possibility:…
Political Science Educator: volume 29, issue 2 Reflections By Diana Owen (owend@georgetown.edu), Jamie Joseph (jj1173@georgetown.edu), Naomi Rader (nr757@georgetown.edu), and Patrick McSweeney (prm65@georgetown.edu) At Georgetown University’s Civic Education Research Lab (CERL), we use data to tell the story of the transformative power of civic education. However, the storytelling should not stop with us. Quality data are…
Shamira Gelbman, Wabash College, Patrick McGovern, State University of New York – Buffalo, Chase Privett, Morningside University, Leah Murray, Weber State University The past few years have not been kind to teaching in higher education. It seems too that this has fallen particularly hard on the discipline of political science. While higher education is climbing…
June 5, 2025 | Responding to the current political environment in the United States, the panelists shared how they are rethinking the Introduction to American Politics class. Panelists addressed overarching questions about structuring the course, incorporating insights from Comparative Politics, and teaching particular topics. Panelists also shared specific strategies or activities they use in their classes….