NEWS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Calendar Year 2007

Political Science Department
San Diego State University

ADDITIONS and SUBTRACTIONS

In September, Department welcomed back Professor Edward Heck, following three years of service as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Letters.  Professor Heck is an expert on Public Law and Judicial Politics, and his return to the Department strengthens our course offerings in this subfield.  His wise counsel and sound judgment are most appreciated.

With sadness, we note the retirement of Paula Forrester, who worked at SDSU for 37 years, most of them in the Political Science Department office.  She sat with infinite patience at the front desk, answering student questions and keeping the flow of paper moving.  Her contributions were invaluable and she will be missed.  In turn, we are pleased to welcome Christine Maidment as the department’s new staff assistant.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Professor Ronald King was awarded a special, honorary degree, “Profesor Onorific de Ştiinţe Politice,” by the Faculty of Political Science, Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) in June 2007.  The university was founded in 1581 and is the leading academic institution in Transylvania.  Professor King helped to found its Political Science Department during the years following the end of communism, and he returns there regularly to teach, advise, and collaborate on research projects. 

Professor C. Richard Hofstetter in 2007 published his 200th article.  This is a spectacular career achievement by one of the most distinguished scholars at SDSU.  The range of topics and depth of understanding is equally remarkable.  His colleagues and students in the Political Science Department applaud Professor Hofstetter for his outstanding contributions, advancing knowledge across the social sciences.

In Summer 2007, the Political Science Department hosted its first annual Fred J. Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation.  The Institute brought together more than 20 overseas university students – from countries such as Nepal, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Morocco, China, and Moldova – to join students from the San Diego region in three-weeks of intensive training in conflict management and resolution.  The goal of the program is to create an international community of young leaders who will use their summer experience as a foundation for lasting friendships, common understanding, and coordinated endeavors on behalf of a peaceful future.  Special recognition goes to Dipak Gupta and Ron Bee for organizing the program.

The Spring 2007 Fred J. Hansen Distinguished Lecture Series/Hostler Institute on World Affairs focused on issues of globalization and its consequences, bringing to campus for public lectures such important international scholars as Pranab Bardhan (UC Berkeley); Ronald Suny (Univ. of Chicago), Ching Kwan Lee (Princeton), Aboubakar Jamai (Harvard), John Horgan (Univ. of St. Andrews), Peter Kornbluh (George Washington), and Mark Juergensmeyer (UC-Santa Barbara).  The lectures are attended by more than 200 persons, from both campus and the San Diego community. 

RECENT ACTIVITIES

Farid Abdel-Nour (Ph.D. Rutgers University 1999, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  Political Theory.  Held a research fellowship at the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah.  His article, "To the Bone: Reflections on Identity" was reprinted (Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism).  While continuing work on a book manuscript about political responsibility, he gave presentations at the University of Utah and at the Philosophy Colloquium at SDSU, and he delivered a paper at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.

Brian Adams (Ph.D. University of California, Irvine 2003, Assistant Professor).  Specialization:  Urban Politics. Undergraduate Studies Director.  Published one journal article in 2007, “Fundraising Coalitions in Open-Seat Mayoral Elections” (Journal of Urban Affairs), plus a book review in the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Delivered a paper on campaign financing in municipal elections at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association and presented his findings on local campaign finance reform to the San Diego Ethics Commission.

Mikhail Alexseev (Ph.D. University of Washington 1996, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  International Relations, Migration and Ethnic Conflict, Politics of the Former Soviet Union. Published one article in 2007, “Nationhood Vigilantism in the Global Semi-Periphery: Migration and Ethnoreligious Hostility in Russia,” (Security Challenges in the Post-Soviet Space), plus an encyclopedia entry and a book review.  Gave presentations to the International Studies Association, the National Defense University, Arizona State University, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School, and the U.S. State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research.  Held research grants about ethno-religious conflict in the Russian Federation from the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research and the National Science Foundation, and created a major, web-based data resource regarding migration and ethnic conflict.  He serves on the Executive Committee of the Section on Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration for the International Studies Association. 

David Carruthers (Ph.D. University of Oregon 1995, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  Comparative Politics (Latin America) and Environmental Politics.  Undergraduate Advisor for the Latin American Studies program.  Published one journal article in 2007, “Environmental Justice and the Politics of Energy on the US-Mexico Border” (Environmental Politics), and presented papers at meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, the Western Political Science Association, and the Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies.  He was an invited lecturer to the Oxford University Study Abroad Programme and served as the SDSU representative to the School for Field Studies.  His edited book, Environmental Justice in Latin America: Problems, Promise, and Practice, is forthcoming from MIT University Press.

Lyndelle Fairlie (Ph.D. Indiana University 1973, Associate Professor). Specialization:  Comparative Politics (Europe).  Internship Coordinator. 

Jonathan Graubart (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 2002, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  International Relations and International Law.  Was an invited participant at the NAFTA Commission on Environmental Cooperation tri-national public discussion on citizen-petition mechanisms.  Delivered the keynote address to the Southern California Division of the United Nations Association and presented a scholarly paper at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association.  His first book, Legalizing Transnational Activism: The Struggle to Gain Social Change From NAFTA’s Citizen Petitions is forthcoming from Penn State University Press.

Lei Guang (Ph.D. University of Minnesota 1999, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  Comparative Politics (China) and Development Studies.  On Sabbatical Leave during Fall 2007.  He was awarded a prestigious fellowship by the American Council of Learned Societies to help develop his next research project and was invited to join the editorial board of the China Journal.  He co-organized an international conference on the Production and Consumption of Chinese Culture and gave presentations at several universities/research institutions in China, including Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Central China Normal University, Southwestern University of Politics and Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Unirule Institute of Economics in Beijing.

Dipak Gupta (Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh 1977, Professor).  Specialization:  Ethnic Conflict, Public Policy Analysis.  Distinguished Professor in Political Science and holder of the Hansen Chair of Peace Studies.  Director of the SDSU program on International Security and Conflict Resolution.  Organizer of the Hansen Distinguished Lecture Series. Published in 2007 one journal article, “The Naxalites and the Maoist Movement in India: Birth, Death, and Reincarnation” (Democracy and Security) and two book reviews.  An expert on international terrorism, he gave invited lecturers at universities in India, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands and to the Swedish Foreign Ministry.  His next book, Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence: The Life Cycle of Birth, Growth, Transformation, and Demise, is forthcoming from Routledge Press.

Edward Heck (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University 1978, Professor).  Specialization:  Public Law and American Politics.  Spent most of 2007 on administrative duty, serving as Associate Dean for the College of Art and Letters.

C. Richard Hofstetter  (Ph.D. Indiana University 1967, Professor).  Specialization:  U.S. Politics and Mass Political Behavior.  Published eight co-authored articles in 2007, including “American Muslim Political Participation:  Religious Belief, Political Resources, Social Structures, and Political Awareness,” (Politics and Religion) and a series of papers on the social behaviors that increase or decrease health risk among immigrant populations, appearing in such journals as American Journal of Public Health, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, American Journal of Health Promotion, and Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health.  He is principal investigator for research grants from the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute totaling approximately $2.8 million. 

Carole Kennedy (Ph.D. University of California, Riverside 1998, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  U.S. Politics, including Women’s Politics and Electoral Politics.  Elected member of University Senate.  President, SDSU Chapter of the California Faculty Association.  President, SDSU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Ronald King (Ph.D. University of Chicago 1981, Professor).  Specialization:  U.S. Politics and Public Policy, Politics of Democratization.  Chair of the Department.  Elected member of University Senate.  Published an edited book, Thomas Paine:  Common Sense for the Modern Era (San Diego State University Press) and an article, “Democracy is Not a Self-Sustaining System,” in the Hungarian popular magazine, Élet és Irodalom (Life and Literature).  He delivered invited lectures in Romania and Hungary, and at the University of Texas-Austin.  He sits on the Board of the Fulbright Association of San Diego and the Program Committee for the Western Political Science Association, and serves as President of the Jury for the Ratiu Foundation Awards on Romanian democracy. 

Ahmet Kuru (Ph.D. University of Washington, Seattle 2005, Assistant Professor).   Specialization:  Comparative Politics, Politics of Religion.  Winner of the Wildavsky Award from the “Religion and Politics” section of the American Political Science Association for the best recent Ph.D. dissertation in the field.  Published an article, “Passive and Assertive Secularism: Historical Conditions, Ideological Struggles, and State Policies towards Religion” (World Politics), and was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion at Columbia University. 

Brian Loveman (Ph.D. Indiana University 1973, Professor).  Specialization:  Comparative Politics (Latin America).  Published his 20th book in 2007, Los Actos de la Dictadura. Comision Investigadora, 1931 (Chilean National Library, Archives, and Museum).  Also published two co-authored articles in 2007:  "Truth, Justice, Reconciliation, and Impunity as Historical Themes: Chile 1814-2006," (Radical History Review) and “Comisión Investigadora de los actos de la dictadura, 1931,” (Poder y Sociedad: Recorridos Históricos), plus three book reviews.  A noted scholar on the restoration of the rule of law following regimes of state terror, he delivered papers at Latin American Studies conferences from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Quito, Ecuador.  Professor Loveman was nominated this year by the College of Arts and Letters for the Albert W. Johnson University Lectureship, which is the highest research award given at SDSU.

Kristen Hill Maher (Ph.D. University of California, Irvine 1999, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  U.S. Immigration and Border Politics, Nationalism.  Graduate Studies Director.  Deliver papers in 2007 to the Latin American Association and the Western Political Science Association.  She serves on the Executive Committee of the Western Political Science Association.

Madhavi McCall (Ph.D. Washington University 1999, Associate Professor).  Specialization:  Public Law and Judicial Behavior.  Pre-Law Adviser.  Elected Member of University Senate.  Published three co-authored articles in 2007:  “How Far Does the Gender Gap Extend?: Decision Making on State Supreme Courts in Fourth Amendment, 1980-2000” (Social Science Journal); “Campaign Contributions, Judicial Decisions and the Texas Supreme Court: Assessing the Appearance of Impropriety” (Judicature); and “Criminal Justice and the 2005-2006 Supreme Court Term” (Quinnipiac Law Review).   She also presented a paper at the Midwest Political Science Association and was an invited participant in the Sandra Day O’Connor “State of the Judiciary Project” regarding judicial selection, held at Georgetown University Law Center.

Ronnee Schreiber (Ph.D. Rutgers University 2000, Assistant Professor).  Specialization:  U.S. Political Institutions, Women and Politics.  Published one article in 2007, “Raising the Minimum Wage is a Women’s Issue.” 2007 (Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society), and delivered a paper at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association.  Awarded Liaison of the Year from the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars.  Her first book, Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. 

Emanuele Saccarelli (Ph.D. University of Minnesota 2005, Assistant Professor).  Specialization:  Political Theory.  Published in 2007 his first book, Gramsci and Trotsky in the Shadow of Stalinism: The Political Theory and Practice of Opposition (Routledge Press), and an article, "Alone in the World: The Existential Socrates in the Apology and
Crito" (Political Studies). 

Latha Varadarajan (Ph.D. University of Minnesota 2004, Assistant Professor).  Specialization:  International Relations and Conflict Resolution.  While continuing to work on her book about disaporas and international relations, she gave papers at the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association, and was an invited panelist to the Hansen Foundation discussion of globalization and its effects.