Political Science Educator: Volume 30, Issue 1
Dear Colleagues,
I hope this finds all well, seeing signs of spring as we push towards the end of another academic year.
It’s been a busy few months for the PSE Executive Committee. Together with APSA staff, we’re in the final stages of reviewing literature reviews of APSA/PSE Pedagogy Fellows, which will be published in JPSE in the coming months. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to this process:
- APSA/PSE Pedagogy Fellows: Kelly Bauer (Generalist); Megan Becker (Undergraduate Research); Edward Kammerer (Belonging and Accessibility); and Jennie Sweet-Cushman (Civic Engagement);
- APSA Staff: Michelle Allendoerfer (Senior Director, APSA Teaching & Learning and Professional Development Programs), and Bennett Grubbs (APSA Associate Director, Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Program, Editor, APSA Educate[i]);
- PSE Executive Committee Members: Cherie Strachan (Vice President), Tavishi Bhasin (Treasurer), Elizabeth Dorssom, Josh Franco, Shamira Gelbman, Young-Im Lee, Dan Mallinson, Diana Owen, and Charley Turner.
The PSE Executive Committee has two May meetings. In early May, we’ll make final decisions on PSE section awards. I’d like to thank the following section members for their time and leadership on section award committees:
- Elizabeth Dorssom and Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan (Co-Chairs, Craig L. Brians Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research & Mentorship Committee);
- Justin Lance and Najja Baptist (Co-Chairs, Best APSA Conference Paper Award Committee);
- Petra Hendrickson (Chair, Best New Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award Committee), Dale Mineshima-Lowe and Devon Cantwell-Chavez (committee members), Tavishi Bhasin ();
- Charity Butcher (Chair, Best New Undergraduate Textbook Award Committee), Austin Trantham and Kevin G. Lorenz II (committee members), Tavishi Bhasin (mentor).
These awards, together with the Section’s Distinguished Service and Lifetime Achievement awards, will be presented at the PSE Business Meeting at the Annual Meeting in Boston on Saturday, September 5, 5:45 – 6:45 , EDT (room + remote link TBD), with the PSE/TLC at APSA reception immediately following at 7 pm. Mark your calendars!
Our second PSE Executive Committee meeting at the end of May will be devoted to reviewing preliminary online modules for our Pedagogy Fellows. Once the review process is complete (approximately mid-June), online modules will be available via the APSA/PSE Pedagogy Certification website.[ii]
Pedagogy Fellows Megan Becker (Undergraduate Research), Edward Kammerer (Belonging and Accessibility), and Jennie Sweet-Cushman (Civic Engagement) will also offer half day short courses at the Annual Meeting in Boston on Wednesday, September 5. While short course registration is not yet open, registration for the 2026 Annual Meeting and housing is now open online.[iii] Additionally, Kelly Bauer (Generalist) will offer a synchronous general pedagogy course in the up-coming academic year. Thanks again to all Fellows for your dedication to this initiative!
Thanks very much as well to our divisional co-chairs for APSA this year, Petra Henrickson and Dan Mallinson. They accepted 19 papers that were placed on four panels. In addition, we will host six in-person roundtables, one virtual roundtable, and one poster. To note, this is one more panel and six more roundtables than last year – impressive! Thanks very much to all of you who submitted proposals this year and made this possible. The theme for this year’s meeting couldn’t be more important: “Democracy Under Threat: How to Understand, Protect, and Rebuild.” I hope that many of you will be able to attend.
A huge thank you also to this year’s TLC at APSA co-chairs, Matt Evans and Dale Mineshima-Lowe, and to the entire TLC at APSA committee: La Della Levy-Edwards, Kim Lopez-Gallagher, Rafael Alexandre Mello, and Liz Norell. This year’s TLC at APSA theme is: “(Re)building Precarious Democracy Through the Classroom.” The conference will run all of Saturday, September 5, beginning with the TLC at APSA breakfast and featuring panel presentations, workshops, and roundtables. Please remember to register for TLC at APSA ($10) via the APSA registration page.[iv]
Once the APSA 2026 program is finalized, please also be on the lookout for special events relating to the USA’s 250th anniversary, which we will celebrate in Boston. Beyond events at APSA, Michelle Allendoerfer is also leading two year-long initiatives commemorating the USA’s 250th of special interest to PSE:
- A year-long series of 5-6 webinars focused on themes related to the scholarship and teaching around civic education and the USA’s founding
- A curated teaching resource collection focused on engaging the USA’s 250th, which will be hosted on APSA Educate
If you are interested in participating in either of these initiatives, please email Michelle Alledoerfer at mallendoerfer@apsanet.org.
Finally, we are thrilled to report that two of the Section’s four nominees for APSA Council were selected by APSA’s Nomination Committee to stand for election this spring: Patrick McKinlay (Morningside University) and Helen Chang (Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New ). Please join me in congratulating and thanking them for their many contributions to the Section and APSA that resulted in their selection. They will both be powerful advocates for the Section’s goals on Council – thank you and congratulations, Patrick and Helen! Everyone please vote once APSA Council ballots open later this spring!
And finally, finally, thanks so much as always to Matt Evans and Colin Brown for their continued dedication to the PSE Newsletter, which is such an essential part of our PSE community, and to all of you for your contributions, which bring our community together in such important ways.
Wishing everyone a smooth finish to spring term and the academic year, and looking forward to hopefully seeing many of you at APSA in Boston, September 2- 6!
With warmest regards,
Maureen Feeley (mfeeley@ucsd.edu)
Teaching Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Department of Political Science
UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
APSA PSE Section President, 2024-26
[i] https://educate.apsanet.org/
[ii] https://educate.apsanet.org/certification-in-political-science-education
[iii] https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2026/1334-2/registration/
[iv] https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2026/1334-2/registration/
Published since 2005, The Political Science Educator is the newsletter of the Political Science Education Section of the American Political Science Association. As part of APSA’s mission to support political science education across the discipline, APSA Educate has republished The Political Science Educator since 2021. Please visit APSA Educate’s Political Science Educator digital collection.
Editor: Matt Evans (Northwest Arkansas Community College)
Assistant Editor: Colin Brown (Northeastern University)
Submissions: editor.PSE.newsletter@gmail.com
