APSA’s international workshops are an annual fellowship opportunity for PhD students and early-career researchers from specific world regions. The programs promote research on important contemporary issues and offer a variety of professional development resources. The workshops are a major component of APSA’s efforts to engage with political science communities outside the United States and support research networks linking US scholars with their colleagues overseas.
APSA WORKSHOPS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
The 2019 MENA Workshop on “Women and Politics: MENA Experiences” began with an initial program June 9–13 in partnership with New York University, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Co-leading the workshop were Naima Benlarabi (Ibn Tofail University, Morocco), Rachel Brulé (New York University, Abu Dhabi, UAE), Hanane Darhour (Polydisciplinary Faculty of Ouarzazate, Morocco), Liv Tønnessen (Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway), and Aili Mari Tripp (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA). 22 Arab scholars from universities across the MENA region, Europe, and the United States were selected to attend.
Together with a follow-up program in October in Rabat, Morocco, the program aims to explore theoretical and empirical scholarship on politics and gender within the MENA region. Attendees reviewed the recent literature and discussed current research across three areas of analysis. This first theme examined women’s representation in legislatures, local government, the executive, and the judiciary as related to factors such as such gender quotas, decentralization, and institutional change. A second theme looked at legal reform, Islamic jurisprudence, and gender equality as related to women’s rights reforms and women’s economic empowerment. The third theme focused on women’s movements and political change as related to policy outcomes, public opinion, international influences, and domestic coalition building. More broadly, the June workshop included sessions on getting published, pursuing research grants, and other professional development topics. Fellows also discussed their own research on the various political and socio-economic changes related to women and politics in the MENA region.
Asia workshop attendees on campus at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia
APSA’s MENA Workshops are a multi-year initiative to support political science research and networking in the Arab Middle East and North Africa. Funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York, over 160 scholars have taken part in the program since 2013. For more information, visit APSA’s MENA Workshops website at http://web.apsanet.org/mena/.
APSA WORKSHOPS IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
The inaugural Asia Workshop was hosted by Universiti Sains Malaysia June 23–29, 2019. 22 fellows from the United States, Australia, and numerous countries across East and Southeast Asia attended the workshop, titled “Dynamics of Political Institutions in Asia.” Co-leading the workshop were William Hurst (Northwestern University, USA), Soo Yeon Kim (National University of Singapore), Benny Teh Cheng Guan (Universiti Sains Malaysia), and Meredith Weiss (State University of New York at Albany, USA). Over the course of the seven-day program, attendees explored core questions and theories of political institutions as well as implications of these theories for political representation, interest intermediation, governance, political liberalization, and regional integration, with a particular attention on applications across East and Southeast Asia. Fellows discussed a core syllabus across several thematic lectures and presented their own research for intensive feedback. The program also included professional development sessions on publishing, policy-oriented research, networking, and other challenges faced by early-career researchers. Following their participation in the workshop, alumni were given a two-year APSA membership and eligibility to apply for small research grants.
APSA’s Asia Workshops are a multi-year initiative to support political science research and networking in East and Southeast Asia funded by the Henry Luce Foundation through 2020. For more information, visit APSA’s Asia Workshops website at https://connect.apsanet.org/asia/.
