Assistant Professor Julie Mazzei's new book offers a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics that facilitate the organization and mobilization of one of the most virulent types of these organizations, paramilitary groups (PMGs)FALL 2009 COURSES
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Patrick Coy publishes new co-authored book, Contesting Patriotism
Patrick Coy's new co-authored book, Contesting Patriotism: Culture, Power and Strategy in the Peace Movement, analyzes activism during war, when space for political debate shrinks. Narrow ideas of patriotism and security marginalize opposition to militarism abroad and repression at home. This book shows how these ideas were resisted across five U.S. wars. Concepts of culture, power, strategy, and identity are used to explain how the peace movement contributes to social and political change. More information
Graduate Student Accomplishments
Congratulations to second year student, Vasili Rukhadze, the recipient of an IREX 2009-2010 US Embassy Policy Specialist Award. The grant enabled Vasili to conduct research at the US Embassy in the Republic of Georgia on civil society development.
Also props to Elena Pokalova who received the Box-Steffensmeier Award to go to the ICPSR program in Michigan in June 2009. Elena is ABD and became a recipient of the Open Society Institute 2009/2010 Global Supplementary Grant Program. She also received the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy Grant for fieldwork research. And her paper “Framing Separatism as Terrorism: Lessons from Kosovo” was accepted for publication in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
First year student, Oindrilla Roy served as discussant at 'Regional Cooperation as a Development Tool in Eurasia’ an international conference organized by the India Central Asia Foundation, the Global India Foundation and the Indira Gandhi National Open University on March 27-29, 2008.
Several Political Science graduate students also presented their work at the International Studies Association and Midwestern Political Science Association annual meetings. Congratulations to all of them! List of papers presented
As Chair of the Department, it is my pleasure to provide you with a brief introduction to the department, and I hope that you will find much useful information on our web site. The Political Science Department at Kent State University offers a wide variety of programs leading to B.A., M.A., M.P.A., and Ph.D. degrees.
At the undergraduate level, we offer two B.A. degrees and two minors, one in Political Science and one in Applied Conflict Management.
The undergraduate program in Political Science provides students with a broad base of lower division courses and then gives students the opportunity to specialize in either American politics, international and comparative politics, or public policy. Students are also permitted to generalize without choosing a specific sub-major. The undergraduate program in Applied Conflict Management is a separate degree program offering a BA as well as a minor.
For undergraduates, the Department has a semester-long internship program for the study of state government in Columbus, Ohio, as a fall semester counterpart to our highly successful Washington Program in National Issues internship program, which provides students the opportunity to live and study in Washington, D.C., each spring semester. Both offer real opportunities for our students to go directly from their BA programs into professional jobs in the state and national capitals.
At the graduate level, our Masters of Public Administration is a two-year program that is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. It offers two tracks: public management and our new public policy track. In addition, the Department offers both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science specializing in the field of public policy and training students not only for academic positions but also for positions in public and non-profit agencies.
We are proud of our large and diverse faculty. We currently have twenty-six full-time members of the faculty, and they excel in teaching, research, and community service. Six of our faculty members have been recognized for their teaching excellence by winning University-wide teaching awards. Research productivity is evidenced by the more than twenty books produced by faculty since 2000. The community outreach activities of the Department are also impressive, involving the Center for Public Administration and Policy and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center.
Curriculum innovation is another distinguishing characteristic of the Kent State Political Science Department. At the graduate level, for example, the ten core courses in the MPA Program's management track are now being offered online as web-based courses. A new track focusing upon justice studies has been added recently in the Ph.D. public policy program.
The Political Science Department at Kent State University is an exciting, stimulating center of teaching, research, and public service. We thank you for your interest in our department, we welcome you to explore our website, and we stand ready to assist you in any way that we can.
Steven Hook
Professor and Chair