Authors

The Future of the Political Science Conference

by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University The MPSA’s in-person conference is back!  After being canceled entirely in 2020 and held virtually in 2021, this year’s conference has returned to Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton.  Old haunts like the Parlor, State and…


Conference Smarter Not Harder: An Interview with Dr. Gustavo Diaz

By James Steur, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign In this blog post, I’m interviewing Gustavo…


First Things First When Teaching Civic Education

by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University Between 10 and 15 years ago, Political Science experienced a renewed interest in civic education.  The National Conference on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (NCCLDE) produced a report in 2012 featuring numerous…


Think Congressional redistricting is hard? Wait until we get to state and local offices.

by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University Congressional redistricting is in the news–and in my inbox.  Every day, I get a dose of emails from both sides reminding me of the critical importance of redistricting.  Most of these focus on Congressional districts,…


Remembering Burdett Loomis 

by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University Dr. Burdett “Bird” Loomis died in late…


Do-It-Yourself Redistricting and What I Learned

by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University I redistricted.  Here is what I learned. First, the basics.  Redistricting no longer requires sophisticated computer software that only legislative research departments can afford. For more than 10 years now, computer…


Promising Signs for Humanities Funding in the New Administration

By Alexandra Klein, NHA Communications and Government Relations Manager The Biden administration’s request for a funding increase for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and other humanities programs earlier this year was a welcome change from the Trump administration’s yearly calls to…


A Redistricting Primer

by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University It’s time for redistricting.  What does that mean, and what insights does political science offer? Every ten years, the country experiences reapportionment and redistricting as a result of the decennial Census mandated by…