Related Links
Workshops & Activities
Our department offers an informative series of workshops where students and faculty
present projects in progress, engage in practice conferences and job-talk presentations
-- a great way to gain experience and to network with other students and faculty.
- The Annual Dr. Han-Jyun Hou Conference
Political Violence: Bargaining Through Coercion - September 2015
Political violence is an overarching theme in social and political science research.
It is well understood that states, groups, and individuals alike quite often seek
to change or enforce political outcomes through violent behavior; but why these actors
resort to violence is subject to great contention and debate. Further, the question
of why these diverse actors choose violence is of significant importance to academics
and policymakers alike, as more peaceful means to achieving political outcomes are
clearly desirable.
At the state-level, political violence involves issues of war and peace, mass repression,
forced population resettlement, and counterinsurgency. At the group-level, it addresses
the formation of violent non-state actors, protest and dissent, and targeted violence
against civilians. Finally, at the individual-level, political violence entails the
microfoundations of political behavior; an individual's choice to participate in more
violent forms of political engagement. Why these units resort to violence is the central
puzzle we aim to explore, as we encourage papers that address how violence shapes
political processes, power, or institutions.
- Comparative-American Workshop
(formed Fall 2002)
Meets bimonthly on Wednesdays during the semester. Students and faculty present projects
in progress or engage in practice conference/job talk presentations.
Faculty Advisor (For more information, contact)
Gregory Robinson: grobinso@binghamton.edu
- World Politics Workshop (formed Fall 2000)
Meets weekly on Fridays during the semester. Students and faculty present project
in progress or engage in practice conference/job talk presentations. Participants
are from both the department of political science and the department of economics.
Faculty Advisor (For more information, contact)
Amanda Licht: alicht@binghamton.edu
BU Women in Political Science (formed Fall 2004)
B.U. Women in Political Science was founded in the Fall of 2004 to create an environment
that allows women to better integrate into and succeed in the political science community.
Our organization is designed to facilitate discussion of gender-specific issues, sharing
professional and personal experiences to assist members in developing the skills necessary
for an academic career and how to best accommodate both professional and family aspirations.
We accomplish these goals by offering opportunities for faculty and students to interact
professionally and socially both inside and outside the regular academic environment,
by encouraging female faculty to act as role models for female students, and by stimulating
student interaction to ensure a more efficient and supportive learning experience.
A key goal of the organization is to create a positive learning and working environment
in which women in political science can thrive and succeed.
Meets two or three times during the semester. Provides an informal atmosphere where
graduate students and faculty can interact to discuss the challenges that face women
in the discipline and, more generally, provides a support network for female students.
Faculty Advisors (For more information, contact)
Olga Shvetsova: shvetso@binghamton.edu
Pi Sigma Alpha Honors Society
As the national political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha’s purpose is to encourage
and reward high achievement in the study of political science. Binghamton’s chapter,
Zeta Theta was established in 1977, to bring outstanding students and faculty together,
to promote the study of government and politics and to encourage and reward high achievement
in political science. Click to learn more.
Political Science Graduate Student Organization
Meets as needed during the semester. As the departmental sub-organization of the university
Graduate Student Organization, the PSGSO serves as the governing body of the graduate
students. The PSGSO determines how funds allocated from the GSO should be spent and
more generally addresses the issues/concerns of current graduate students. The PSGSO
organizes two activities annually: the graduate student Fall Foliage Tour (a trip
to vineyards on Cayuga Lake for wine tasting with dinner in Ithaca) and an end-of-the-year
departmental function (a catered picnic at a Binghamton Mets Baseball home-game).
The executive council is composed of second year graduate students.
For More Information
Marissa Buchta
Administrative Assistant
Political Science
