Professor Ed Schatz has been given the Giovanni Sartori Book Award
September 4, 2010
The Giovanni Sartori Book Award honors Giovanni Sartori’s work on qualitative methods and concept formation, and especially his contribution to helping scholars think about problems of context as they refine concepts and apply them to new spatial and temporal settings. The award is intended to encompass two types of contributions: new research on methodology per […]
Jennifer Wallner wins Deil Wright Best Paper Award
September 4, 2010
The Deil Wright Best Paper Award is presented to the author of the best paper on federalism and intergovernmental relations. Dr. Wallner won for her paper “Does Diversity Always Lead to Decentralization and Difference?”. She recieved her Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science in 2009. She is now an Assistant Professor at the University […]
Laying down the law on teaching: Ran Hirschl
September 2, 2010
Like a well-ordered society that functions effectively and productively, Ran Hirschl’s classroom is one built on a system of laws and tenets that provide the foundation for his approach to teaching. The ultimate goal of this classroom constitution is to transform students at all levels into true cosmopolitan citizens of the world, and encourage them […]
Neil Nevitte describes how national pride and nationlism have diverged
August 31, 2010
What does Feist think about potash? In other countries, where a sense of economic sovereignty still gets people going, this would not be a completely ironic kind of question. We know, for example, that Björk cares passionately about resisting the foreign takeover of one of Iceland’s geothermal power companies. The outspoken singer-songwriter has called for […]
Canadians get the Question Period they deserve, writes Nelson Wiseman in the Globe and Mail
August 30, 2010
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a parliamentary delegation from one of the newly independent Baltic states visited Ottawa to observe Canada’s democratic institutions in action. As is common for such groups, they were ushered into Question Period, Parliament’s most extensively covered activity. Shocked at the spectacle, they cringed. Is this how political debate […]
Chris Cochrane joins faculty of UTSC
August 25, 2010
University of Toronto, Scarborough, welcomes a new Assistant Professor, Christopher Cochrane. Dr Cochrane has a Ph.D. in political science from U of T, a Master’s degree in political science from McGill, and a Bachelor’s degree in political science and history from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB. He studies mass/elite and left/right differences in the […]
Aurel Braun questions Russia's refuelling of Iranian reactor in the Globe and Mail
August 20, 2010
An old issue – Russia’s construction of a nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr – seemingly indolent for so many years, suddenly turned virulent this month when the Russians announced they would begin fuelling the mammoth reactor. It’s a decision likely to prove dangerous both in terms of substance and symbolism. For many […]
Three original works of art donated to Political Science lounge
August 13, 2010
Visitors to the Political Science lounge will have noticed some recent aesthetic improvements in the form of three works of art, which were recently donated by the artists. One of the sculptures is by Prof. Ronald Beiner, Professor and Chair at UTM. The other two pieces, a ceramic sculpture and a wall mural, are by […]
Companies that own cyberspace offer little reassurance on privacy, writes Ron Deibert in the Globe and Mail
August 9, 2010
There’s a story about a 1960s British intelligence chief who was so frustrated and confused by the proliferation of meaningless acronyms and code names for spying missions that he turned to an assistant and asked in exasperation: “Now, just what on earth does this KUWAIT refer to?” Listening to stories about BlackBerry and the United […]
Political Science graduate honoured by Best Paper Award from APSA
August 3, 2010
Dr. Jennifer Nelles has been selected by the American Political Science Association for the Best Paper Award of the Urban Politics section. The award is for her presentation of her paper “Cooperation and Capacity: Exploring the Sources and Limits of City-Region Governance,” which was based on her University of Toronto Ph.D. thesis which she defended […]