POLITICS & GOV’T DEPARTMENT NEWS Fall 2010
DEPARTMENT WELCOMES TWO NEW COLLEAGUES!
Dr. Rachel DeMotts earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and comes to us from the University of Massachusetts—Lowell. Her position is funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, and she is Mellon Assistant Professor of Global Environmental Politics. Professor DeMotts focuses on politics in sub-Saharan Africa, and will teach P&G 325, African Politics this fall. She is affiliated with the Environmental Policy and Decision Making Program, and will teach on global environmental politics, conservation, gender and environment, and related topics. DeMotts’ research focuses on transboundary environmental issues in southern Africa, including the relationships between parks and rural villages, participation in natural resource management and community-based conservation, and the social effects of living with wildlife. She has recently published papers on the intersection of gender, HIV/AIDS, and conservation and on natural resource management in Botswana.
Dr. Robin Dale Jacobson earned her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and comes to Puget Sound from Bucknell University. Professor Jacobson is an expert on US politics. This fall she will teach P&G 101, Introduction to US Politics, and P&G 304, Race in American Politics. Jacobson’s research has focused on immigration politics. In addition to several articles and many conference presentations she published a book, The New Nativism: Proposition 187 and the Debate Over Immigration with the University of Minnesota Press. Professor Jacobson is now working on an edited volume, Faith and Race in American Political Life, which explores how the intersection of race and religion is central to our political culture, institutions, and behavior.
POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (PSA) RECRUITING AND PLANNING FOR THE YEAR
The Politics and Government Students Association (PSA) is organizing for the coming year. The PSA sponsors talks and current events discussions, organizes social events, and provides an important mechanism through which students can communicate with P&G faculty. Please consider joining the group as it begins its planning for the new academic year! Look for the group’s announcements, or contact Katie Rader (krader@ups.edu) for information.
THE BLOG ROLLS ON
Professor O’Neil will continue to blog at http://upspolitics.blogspot.com, the departmental blog. You will find news about happenings on campus and in the department, job/internship/scholarship/research opportunities, reports from P&G graduates and students studying abroad, and news from the wild world of higher education. Sign up for the digest and get a weekly update on what’s been happening on the blog!
BECOME A FACEBOOK FAN OF THE P&G DEPARTMENT
P&G has created a Facebook fan page, a running source of information about departmental events, internship, job, and research opportunities. Are you a fan? Find us at University of Puget Sound Politics and Government.
NEW and RECENT BOOKS FROM P&G FACULTY
Daniel Sherman’s book, Not Here, Not There, Not Anywhere: Implementation Vulnerabilities of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act and the Power of Local Collective Opposition will be published by Resources for the Future Press in 2010.
Seth Weinberger’s book, Restoring the Balance: War Powers in an Age of Terror, will be published in late August 2009 by Praeger Security International Press.
Patrick O’Neil’s widely-adopted comparative politics text, Essentials of Comparative Politics, will appear in its third edition from Norton in 2009. O’Neil has collaborated with Karl Fields and Don Share on Cases in Comparative Politics, which will also appear in a new edition from Norton in 2009.
Robin Dale Jacobson’s book, The New Nativism: Proposition 187 and the Debate Over Immigration was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2008.
David Sousa’s book (co-authored with Christopher McGrory Klyza), American Environmental Policy 1990-2006: Beyond Gridlock was published by MIT Press in 2008.
INTERNSHIPS: TELL US WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING!
P&G has been strongly encouraging students to take internships, and has been slowly developing a network of internship contacts. If you have completed an internship recently, Professor Sousa (sousa@ups.edu) would like to hear from you about your experience and about who we might contact to place another Puget Sound student in that position. Please help us build a database of good internships for current and future P&G students.
NEW DEPARTMENT CHAIR
David Sousa is now P&G chair. Please offer congratulations on a job well done to Professor O’Neil, whose three-year term has ended, and direct inquiries for the chair to Sousa.
