Ten Recipients of Special Projects Fund Initiative Announced
$250,000 in funding for projects aimed at advancing the discipline of political science
“Collectively, these exciting and important projects will help APSA members to advance the professional development of our diverse membership and the discipline of political science.”
– Steven Rathgeb Smith, APSA Executive Director
In keeping with its mission to support excellence in political science scholarship and teaching and informed discourse about politics, policy, and civic participation, the American Political Science Association today announced ten recipients of the 2018 Special Projects Fund. Each funded project will receive up to $25,000 for a total of $250,000 across all projects aimed at advancing the political science discipline or addressing significant challenges facing the discipline.
A review committee consisting of seven political science faculty members selected the recipients based on the quality of their proposals. The committee considered the merits of each proposal based on the importance of the issue being addressed, the wider benefits to the discipline, and the project’s practicability and efficacy. The Special Projects Fund committee received 58 applications, each of which was reviewed by at least two committee members.
The Special Projects Fund awards recognize an exceptional group of established and early career scholars, and supports projects focusing on a wide variety of topics, including climate justice, sexual discrimination and harassment, and the cross-national study of race in the Americas.
“The special projects fund began as a one-off experiment but it is my great hope that we can institutionalize it as an annual competition. The success of this year’s program suggests that our members are full of wonderful ideas about how the association can support them in all aspects of their work and professional lives.”
– Kathleen Thelen, APSA President
“I would like to congratulate the Special Projects Fund Award winners,” said Steven Rathgeb Smith, Executive Director of the American Political Science Association. “Collectively, these exciting and important projects will help APSA members to advance the professional development of our diverse membership and the discipline of political science. I commend the scholars for their dedication and commitment to the discipline and the association.”
Smith noted that the Special Projects Fund will support a great deal of collaborative work, with projects led by a total of 32 scholars from public and private colleges and universities across the United States, as well as from South Africa and India.
“We at APSA were overwhelmed and gratified by the widespread interest in the Special Projects fund. The committee received far more first-rate proposals than it was able to fund,” said Kathleen Thelen, APSA President and Ford Professor of Political Science at MIT. “The special projects fund began as a one-off experiment but it is my great hope that we can institutionalize it as an annual competition. The success of this year’s program suggests that our members are full of wonderful ideas about how the association can support them in all aspects of their work and professional lives.”
Read more about the Special Projects Fund, including details about winning proposals.
2018 Special Projects Fund Recipients
- Nadia Brown (Purdue), Rebecca Gill (The University of Nevada Las Vegas), Jennifer Merolla (The University of California Riverside), Melissa Michelson (Menlo College), Elizabeth Sharrow (The University of Massachusetts Amherst), Patricia Stapleton (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Dara Strolovitch (Princeton) , #MeTooPoliSci: Addressing Gender Discrimination in Political Science
- Mario Guerrero (California State Polytechnic University Pomona), Valerie Martinez-Ebers (University of North Texas), Tony Affigne (Providence College), Jessica Lavariega Monforti (California Lutheran University), Melissa Michelson (Menlo College) Looking Back and Moving Forward: The 20th Anniversary Workshop of the APSA Latino Caucus
- John Ishiyama (University of North Texas), Marijke Breuning (University of North Texas), Terry Gilmour (Midland College), Fletcher McClellan (Elizabethtown College), Cameron Thies (Arizona State University), Renee Van Vechten (University of the Redlands), Sherri Wallace (University of Louisville), Rethinking the Undergraduate Political Science Major: A Conference Proposal
- Prakash Kashwan, (University of Connecticut), Frank Matose (Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa), Navnita Chadha Behera (University of Delhi, New Delhi), Lauren M. MacLean (Indiana University), Avoiding “Day Zero” in the U.S. & Global South: Climate Justice in Teaching & Policy Action
- Tali Mendelberg (Princeton), The Effects of Women’s Mentoring Workshops on Career Outcomes in Political Science
- KC Morrison, (University of Delaware), David Covin (California State University, Sacramento) The Collaborative Study of Race in the Americas: Team Building in the 21st Century
- Jean Oi (Stanford), Melanie Manion (Duke University), Studying Chinese Politics to Integrate and Contribute to Political Science
- Susan Scarrow (University of Houston), Jeffrey Church (University of Houston), John Ishiyama (University of North Texas), Gabriel Sanchez (University of New Mexico), Political Science Pre-Graduate School Workshops
- Alvin Tillery (Northwestern University), Rodney Hero (Arizona State University), Juliet Hooker (Brown University), Michael Jones-Correa (University of Pennsylvania), Jane Junn (University of Southern California), Research Coordination Network for Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Scholars (ASU Pilot Workshop)
- Caroline Tolbert (The University of Iowa), Jan Box-Steffensmeier (Ohio State University), Sara Mitchell (The University of Iowa), Visions in Methodology Conference