Join APSA for our fourth webinar in a series exploring the 2024 U.S. campaign and election from multiple perspectives.
Event: Facilitating Respectful Conversations in the Political Science Classroom
Date: Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Time: 1:00 PM EST / 10:00 AM PT
Registration: Register here (registration is free)
Respectful political dialogue between engaged citizens is a cornerstone characteristic of a healthy democracy. How can faculty establish a classroom culture encouraging constructive and inclusive political discussion around the 2024 U.S. election and other common political science themes? How can political science educators scaffold productive civic dialogue on contentious political issues?
Panelists Include:
- Tavishi Bhasin, Kennesaw State University
- Leah Murray, Weber State University
- Verónica Reyna, Rice University
- Ayana Best, Howard University
- (Moderator) Michelle D. Deardorff, University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Meet the Panelists
Tavishi Bhasin is a Professor in the School of Government and International Affairs at Kennesaw State University, a large public university in Atlanta GA. She also serves as the Director of the Master’s in International Policy Management program. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Emory University and is a 1994 alum of the United World College of the Atlantic. She studies the politics of identity (gender, ethnicity, religion and language), political dissent, state repression and democratic institutional design. She also conducts research in the area of teaching and learning. Her publications have appeared in many peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Conflict Resolution and the British Journal of Political Science, Terrorism and Political Violence, Electoral Studies, European Political Research and the Journal of Turkish Studies. She has co-edited the Palgrave Handbook of teaching and research in Political Science (2023). She serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Political Science Education and is on the board of the Political Science Education Section (2022-2024).
Leah Murray is the Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy at Weber State University and currently serves as the Director of the Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service and as a Radio Talk Show Host for KSL News Radio in Salt Lake City. She was recognized as the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Endowed Professor for 2017 – 2020. Murray earned a BA in political science and newspaper journalism from Syracuse University and a PhD in political science at the University at Albany. Her primary research interests are in American politics, specifically youth political engagement and her recent publications include pieces that focus on campus climates for political learning.
Verónica L. Reyna is an Associate Director for the Center for Civic Leadership and oversees its Houston Civic Projects, including civically-engaged and community-based research opportunities with faculty and graduate student mentors, community partners, and undergraduate participants. She also leads the RiceVotes Collective and teaches the Capstone course for the Certificate in Civic Leadership students. Verónica earned her BA in Political Science and Women’s Studies from Northwestern University and her doctorate from the University of Michigan in Political Science. Her scholarship and publications are in the areas of Latino and gender politics, civic engagement, and civically engaged research. Her textbook, Latino Politics: Power, Intersectionality, and the Future of American Democracy, was published in 2023 by Cengage.
Ayana Best is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Howard University. Her primary research areas include American politics and methodology with a focus on racial and gender politics. Her forthcoming book examines the effects of state-sanctioned violence on Black women’s political participation and civic engagement. She administered a pilot survey that received over 800 Black female respondents and is currently interviewing Black women in various states across the U.S.. She previously held positions as a research assistant for the Center for Feminist Research at University of Southern California, analyzing data around women of color dealing with homelessness, as well as a policy associate with the Research-to-Policy Collaboration housed at Pennsylvania State University.
Michelle D. Deardorff is the Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Government and the prior Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Service at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Before coming to UTC in 2013, Deardorff spent a decade teaching at Jackson State, a historic black university in Mississippi, and another 12 years at Millikin University, a small private college in Illinois. Among other projects, she is on the author team of American Democracy Now with McGraw Hill Publishing. Deardorff co-chaired the APSA Ishiyama Presidential Taskforce on Rethinking Political Science Education; its final report was delivered to the discipline in 2024.
|
About the APSA Webinar Series on “Engaging the 2024 U.S. Election” National campaigns and elections allow citizens to reflect and participate in their democracy. APSA’s Engaging the 2024 U.S. Election Webinar Series showcases how political scientists understand and teach American democracy’s quadrennial event. Watch the previous two webinars and check out the associated resources here. Watch past discussions in this series below: |
Please direct all questions to teaching@apsanet.org.