APSA’s Final Africa Workshop to Be Held in Kenya on “Conflict and Political Violence”

After a competitive application process, the APSA Africa Project Steering Committee is pleased to announce that the 8th annual Africa Workshop will take place from July 20 to 31 in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by the United States International University. The US-based workshop leaders are John Clark (Florida International University) and Beth Elise Whitaker (University of North Carolina, Charlotte). Their Africa-based colleagues are Pamela Mbabazi (Mbarara University of Science & Technology, Uganda) and Kennedy Mkutu (United States International University, Kenya).

A call for participant applications was issued in December. Following a competitive selection process, up to 26 qualified applicants (22 scholars from Africa and four North American doctoral students) will be invited to participate. The two-week program will examine research on the sources of armed conflict and mechanisms for resolving conflict. The course syllabus aims to situate research on African conflicts within the broader political science literature on peace and conflict and facilitate a dialogue between case-based and cross-national studies. In addition, students will have opportunities to share their work and to receive comments on their research projects. The workshop will address both substantive and methodological issues in the study of conflict and political violence as we seek to increase the visibility of Africa-focused scholarship in the broader political science literature.

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the 2015 workshop will conclude an eight-year effort to support political science research and teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along with APSA’s MENA Workshops program, the Africa 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-based scholars with their colleagues overseas. Previous workshops have been held in Maputo, Mozambique (2014); Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2013); Gaborone, Botswana (2012); Nairobi, Kenya (2011); Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (2010); Accra, Ghana (2009); and Dakar, Senegal (2008). More information about the workshops can be found at the project web site: http://community.apsanet.org/Africa/home.

2015 MENA Workshops to Be Held in Qatar and Kuwait on “The Resource Curse in the Middle East and North Africa”

APSA’s Middle East and North Africa Project Steering Committee is pleased to announce that the 2015 MENA Workshop series will kick off with a one-week program hosted by Qatar University’s Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) from May 17 to 21. A follow-up workshop will be held in Kuwait in December. Leading this program will be Justin Gengler (Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, Qatar University), Michael Herb (Georgia State University, USA), Ghanim Al Najjar (Alsalam Center for Development and Strategic Studies, Kuwait University), Alanoud Al Sharekh (Women’s Research and Studies Center, Kuwait University), and Mark Tessler (University of Michigan, USA).

A call for participant applications was issued in late January. Following a competitive selection process, up to 24 qualified applicants (approximately 20 scholars from Middle East and North African countries and four US and/or European doctoral students) will be invited to participate. Participants will explore the rentier state literature to debate questions including: How does rent influence citizenship and other policies of the Gulf States and how can we understand this in a wider comparative perspective? How does aid from rich oil states affect political outcomes in aid recipient states in the region? What will be the impact on rentier states of the recent decline of oil prices? To provide a framework for reflection and investigation, the workshop will also focus on issues of research design, modes of and approaches to political science inquiry, and issues associated with manuscript preparation and publication.

The APSA MENA Workshops are supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Focusing on early career scholars from the Arab Middle East and North Africa, the workshop program aims to enhance the capacities and resources of political scientists in the Arab MENA region and provide a forum for supporting their ongoing research. Previous workshops have been held at the American University in Cairo (AUC), the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman, the Center for Maghreb Studies in Tunis (CEMAT), and Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut. More information on the MENA Workshop program can be found on the project website: http://www.apsanet.org/menaworkshops/.

Africa Workshop Alumni Networking Grant Awards

In November 2014, APSA awarded five Alumni Networking Grants to nine Africa workshop alumni, totaling over $36,000. Professional Development Grant recipients included Samuel Olugbemiga Afolabi, ’14 and Celso Monjane, ’14. Workshop Grant recipients included Edmond Mballa Elanga, ’13; Willy Kalala Kankonde, ’13; Felicia Safoa Odame, ’12; Agnes Apusigah, ’10; Dominic Degraft Arthur, ’14; Sulaiman Balarbe-Kura, ’09; and Mashood Omotosho, ’09.

APSA continues to accept small grant applications from Africa Workshop alumni, with the next deadline being May 3, 2015. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, up to $45,000 is available each year to support participation in professional development opportunities, facilitate networking potential, and encourage collaboration among scholars and academic institutions across Africa. Application and program information can be found on the Africa Workshop website at http://community.apsanet.org/Africa/AlumniGrants. Questions should be directed to Andrew Stinson at [email protected].

APSA International Membership

Total international membership as of February 6, 2015 is 3,077 in 100 countries. The number of international members per country is listed below.

Canada .......................................................470

United Kingdom .......................................................454

Germany .......................................................307

Japan .......................................................188

Australia .......................................................119

Sweden .......................................................103

Switzerland .......................................................99

Netherlands .......................................................77

Korea, Republic of .......................................................75

France .......................................................73

Brazil .......................................................70

Denmark .......................................................61

Mexico .......................................................60

Israel .......................................................59

Italy .......................................................58

Turkey .......................................................58

Belgium .......................................................50

China .......................................................47

Spain .......................................................45

Norway .......................................................44

Singapore .......................................................34

Russian Federation .......................................................33

Taiwan .......................................................32

Austria .......................................................31

Hong Kong .......................................................29

Ireland .......................................................29

India .......................................................26

Nigeria .......................................................26

Hungary .......................................................20

Chile .......................................................18

Argentina .......................................................15

Egypt .......................................................15

New Zealand .......................................................15

Colombia .......................................................11

Finland .......................................................11

Poland .......................................................11

United Arab Emirates .......................................................10

Czech Republic .......................................................9

Ghana .......................................................8

Peru .......................................................8

Portugal .......................................................8

Greece .......................................................7

Croatia (Hrvatska) .......................................................6

Lebanon .......................................................6

Pakistan .......................................................6

Philippines .......................................................6

Qatar .......................................................6

Romania .......................................................6

Tanzania, United Republic of .......................................................6

Thailand .......................................................6

Cameroon .......................................................5

Dominican Republic .......................................................5

Kazakhstan .......................................................5

Cyprus .......................................................4

Malaysia .......................................................4

Morocco .......................................................4

Serbia And Montenegro .......................................................4

Slovenia .......................................................4

Bangladesh .......................................................3

Botswana .......................................................3

Estonia .......................................................3

Iraq .......................................................3

Jordan .......................................................3

Malawi .......................................................3

Palestinian Territory, Occupied .......................................................3

Saudi Arabia .......................................................3

Armenia .......................................................2

Bahrain .......................................................2

Benin .......................................................2

Bosnia And Herzegowina .......................................................2

Cote D’ivoire .......................................................2

Guam .......................................................2

Indonesia .......................................................2

Iran, Islamic Republic of .......................................................2

Moldova, Republic of .......................................................2

Myanmar .......................................................2

Slovakia .......................................................2

Sudan .......................................................2

Tunisia .......................................................2

Bahamas .......................................................1

Brunei Darussalam .......................................................1

Bulgaria .......................................................1

Burkina Faso .......................................................1

Djibouti .......................................................1

Ecuador .......................................................1

Ethiopia .......................................................1

Fiji .......................................................1

Georgia .......................................................1

Iceland .......................................................1

Jamaica .......................................................1

Kenya .......................................................1

Kyrgyzstan .......................................................1

Latvia .......................................................1

Luxembourg .......................................................1

Macau .......................................................1

Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of .......................................................1

Mali .......................................................1

Mozambique .......................................................1

Niger .......................................................1

Sri Lanka .......................................................1

Total International Membership: 3,077