Timothy Kaufman-Osborn Whitman College

CAREER AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Current position: Baker Ferguson Professor of Politics and Leadership, Whitman College

Education: B.A., Oberlin College (1976); M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison (1978); Ph.D., Princeton University (1982)

Publications: A Pragmatic Inquiry into the Promise of Democracy (1991); Creatures of Prometheus: Gender and the Politics of Technology (1997);  From Noose to Needle: Capital Punishment and the Late Liberal State (2002); and numerous articles on the discipline of political science, feminist theory, American pragmatism, the death penalty; etc.

Professional and administrative experience: President, Western Political Science Association (2001-2003); President, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (2002-present); Chair, Leo Strauss Award Committee (best dissertation in political theory, 2002); Editorial boards, Political Research Quarterly (2003-present) and Politics & Gender (2004-present); Chair, Division of Social Sciences, Whitman College (2004-present); Division coordinator, Foundations of Political Theory (2005).

STATEMENT OF VIEWS

If elected to serve on the Executive Council of the American Political Science Association, I will pursue three principal goals:

1) To advance the goals of epistemological pluralism, interdisciplinary inquiry, and problem-driven research within political science;

2) To enhance current efforts to ensure the APSA's responsiveness to non-Ph.D. granting institutions. Recently, it was reported that 44% of the faculty members who belong to the APSA teach at non-Ph.D. granting institutions. While many of the interests and concerns of these persons are congruent with those at Ph.D. granting institutions, some are unique (e.g., teaching loads that compromise sustained research agendas; no teaching or research assistants; limited access to major grant and fellowship opportunities, etc.).

3) To urge the APSA to take action in response to current threats to academic freedom. Since 9/11, colleges and universities have witnessed an escalation of attacks on this core principle. For example, various organizations are now pressing for state and federal legislation on behalf of a so-called "Academic Bill of Rights." According to the American Association of University Professors, this effort represents an attempt to regulate "what teachers teach" by encouraging students to submit complaints about the "introduction of controversial material in the classroom," the use of university funds for "partisan teach-ins or conferences," the delivery of "one-sided lectures," etc. Moreover, the current administration has imposed significant restrictions on the availability of government documents, and it has adopted ill-conceived measures aimed at monitoring and regulating foreign students.