Resources for First-Time Attendees

How to Conference for the First Time: Strategy, Reflection, and Recharging at MPSA 2025

by Muhammad Hassan Bin Afzal, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Service, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga When I first visited Chicago in 2017 to volunteer for a conference and workshop, I fell in love with the city. Then, MPSA entered my life. One of my…


Fascinating Findings: Health & Politics at MPSA 2024

By James Steur, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Political science is a discipline that…


Best Practices in Discussant Roles & Interactions

By Emily Boykin, Doctoral Candidate in Public Administration at Florida State University Social science scholars continually choose to attend MPSA’s annual conference in part due to the quality of panel attendance and corresponding richness of paper or poster feedback. The role of the discussant is…


Less is More

By Kelsey Larsen, Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida One of the…


The False Promise of Conference Imposters

By Kelsey Larsen, Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida Now that MPSA23 is in full swing, all of…


On Returning to In-Person Conferences: A How-To(-Not-Be-Awkward) Guide

By Kelsey Larsen, Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida   We’re officially…


Last Minute Planning Chicago? You’re Not Alone

By Emily Boykin, Doctoral Candidate in Public Administration at Florida State University If you’re like me, you’re currently sitting in the airport preparing for your flight to Chicago with a preliminary plan of touring the Windy City in between panels, poster sessions, luncheons, business…


Maximizing Feedback About Research During Conference Sessions

By James Steur, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


Define Your Success: A Roundtable on Surviving Graduate School

By James Steur, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate school is an exciting time for students to explore their research interests and develop as a scholar. However, the experience also poses its own set of challenges: an intense workload, understanding statistical…


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…