Vice President

Cathy J. Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor at the University of Chicago. She formerly served in numerous administrative position at the University, including chair of the Department of Political Science, Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture and Deputy Provost for Graduate Education. Cohen is the author of two books, The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics (University of Chicago Press) and Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics (Oxford University Press).  She is also co-editor of the anthology Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader (NYU Press) with Kathleen Jones and Joan Tronto. Her articles have been published in numerous journals and edited volumes including the American Political Science Review, NOMOS, GLQ, Social Text, and the DuBois Review. Cohen has been active in APSA serving on the Council, committees and in numerous other capacities.

Cohen created and currently oversees two major research and public-facing projects: the GenForward Survey and the Black Youth Project. She is the recipient of numerous awards and is co-editor with Frederick Harris of a book series at Oxford University Press entitled “Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities.” In addition to her academic work, Cohen has been politically active, helping to create organizations such as the Audre Lorde Project and Scholars for Social Justice.

Statement of Views: 
I believe that APSA is an important institution that must provide critical leadership on issues relevant to the future of not only the discipline, but the structure of higher education more broadly.  If elected Vice-President, I plan to support efforts that will advance equity and diversity within the discipline, paying special attention not only to the distribution of bodies, but also to the distribution of power within our ranks.  Similarly, I will encourage APSA to hold forums for our members where we can explore and discuss issues that will define the future of higher education such as the expansion of adjunct faculty, the ability of graduate students to unionize and the rising debt that students take on in pursuit of undergraduate and graduate education.