Political Science faculty and students attend the International Studies Association Midwest Region Annual Meeting

The Department of Political Science & Policy Studies faculty and students recently attended the International Studies Association (ISA) -Midwest Region Annual Convention held Nov. 22-23 in St. Louis.

The Department of Political Science & Policy Studies faculty and students recently attended the International Studies Association (ISA) -Midwest Region Annual Convention in St. Louis. Baris Kesgin, assistant professor of political science and associate coordinator of the International & Global Studies Program convened the conference, and is currently serving as the president of the ISA-Midwest region.

The ISA is the field’s largest international professional organization with about 7,000 members around the world and an annual conference that attracts 6,000 attendees. The ISA-Midwest is one of the four ISA regions in the United States, and there are three other geographic sub-units of the ISA (Asia-Pacific, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean). The ISA-Midwest mainly draws participants from the Midwestern states, and others arrive from Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, as well as from around the world.

Professor Laura Roselle and Assistant Professor Joel Shelton of the Department of Political Science & Policy Studies attended the conference as well. Roselle was an invited participant to serve as a mentor to junior scholars and graduate students, and to join a roundtable about the publication process. Shelton presented his research, chaired and served as a discussant on multiple panels. In addition to his conference duties, Kesgin presented a new project about conflicting roles lead to foreign policy fiascos.

Two Elon students also presented their research at the conference. Pearl Sullivan ‘21 and Caitlin Wynn ‘20 present their research. Sullivan is a double major in international & global studies and Spanish, with minors in economics and Latin American studies. Her research profiled Chile’s Michelle Bachelet as Chile’s president and a United Nations officer. Wynn, who traveled to the ISA-Midwest for a second time, is majoring in political science and economics and is pursuing a minor in classical studies. This year, she presented her research about former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak’s decision to withdraw from Southern Lebanon.