Status Committees

A. PURPOSE

These committees will help ensure that MPSA’s programs and events are useful and remain relevant and accessible to the underrepresented groups in the profession at all levels, from graduate students to faculty. The committees will prepare reports for the MPSA Council on its findings and help advance research on these topics. These committees should collaborate with each other as well as with the relevant Caucus groups or groups from other political science associations. The two committees, as established at the April 4, 2019 council meeting are:

  • Committee on the Status of Gender and Sexual Minorities in Political Science
  • Committee on the Status of Ethnic and Racial Minorities in Political Science

B. ACTIVITIES OF MPSA STATUS COMMITTEES

  1. Formal Channel for the MPSA Council. Gather and review information for the MPSA Council about the general status of underrepresented groups in the MPSA. Provide recommendations about how the MPSA can ensure its programs and events are relevant, accessible, and welcoming to these groups;
  2. Research. Gather and review data on the pathways to success and best practices as well as the structural impediments that may block members of these groups. Attention should be given to intersecting identities such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, age, and disability.
  3. Professional Development. Organize relevant professional development sessions for the MPSA Annual Conference
  4. Public Outreach. Promote efforts for equity and inclusivity at all levels in the fields of political science; Make available to the profession the results of the Status Committee’s studies;  Build coalitions with other committees and allied organizations that share the Status Committee’s interests.

C. STRUCTURE OF MPSA STATUS COMMITTEES

  1. Size and Composition of Committees. The committees will be comprised of nine individuals serving staggered three-year terms and the committee membership should represent the specific groups involved. For example, the groups represented in the Committee on the Status of Ethnic and Racial Minorities would include at least an African American, Latinx, and Asian/Pacific Islander.
  2. Committee Appointments. The MPSA President-elect will appoint two new members to replace the outgoing cohort of members, as well as appoint any replacements. The Chair will be appointed by the President-elect with input from the committee.
  3. Committee Meetings. MPSA staff will organize a meeting for each committee at the MPSA conference, and the MPSA will also coordinate phone meetings for the committees.
  4. MPSA Support. The MPSA will ensure that panels organized by these committees are on the MPSA conference program, coordinate meetings for the groups, coordinate a reception at the MPSA conference, provide the committees with relevant data needed for their research, and provide the committee a microsite (website) to disseminate information.

Status Committee Members

Committee on the Status of Gender and Sexual Minorities in Political Science

Chair: Julia Marin Hellwege, University of South Dakota

Committee Members:

  • Justin De Benedictis-Kessner, Harvard University
  • Pedro G. Dos Santos, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University
  • Laurel Elder, Hartwick College
  • Seth K. Goldman, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
  • Mary-Kate Lizotte, Augusta University
  • Paru Shah, Rutgers University
  • Katelyn E. Stauffer, University of Georgia
  • Graduate Student Member: Emma Stewart, Rutgers University

To contact the Committee on the Status of Gender and Sexual Minorities in Political Science, please email: GSMstatus@mpsanet.org

Committee on the Status of Ethnic and Racial Minorities in Political Science

Chair: Valerie Martinez-Ebers, University of North Texas
To contact the Committee on the Status of Ethnic and Racial Minorities in Political Science, please email: REMstatus@mpsanet.org