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For Immediate Release

Dr. Paula D. McClain, Director of the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, Receives NSF Grant

Washington, DC—The American Political Science Association is pleased to announce that Dr. Paula D. McClain, Duke University, has been awarded a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. Dr. McClain is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Social Sciences at Duke University. Dr. McClain is the Principle Investigator on the REU NSF Grant, which provides $404,000 over three years. 

The Ralph Bunche Summer Institute is designed to simulate the graduate school experience, provide mentoring, and expand academic opportunities for students from underrepresented groups such as African American, Latino/Latina, Native American, and Pacific Island students, and students who are interested in broadening participation in political science by students from underrepresented minority populations and pursuing scholarship on issues affecting underrepresented groups. Each year the Institute introduces 20 students to the world of graduate study and encourages applications to Ph.D. programs in political science through a 5-6 week residential academic program convened on the campus of Duke University.  More information is available on the Bunche Institute homepage.

Dr. Peter Lange, Duke University Provost, had this to say of Dr. McClain’s award: “Duke University is pleased and honored to be home to the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. We are also pleased to have faculty leaders such as Paula McClain and her colleagues, who are willing to put in the enormous time and energy to bring the Institute here and to lead in the teaching and mentoring of its participants. Diversity and inclusion are central to building a strong, vibrant academic community and to the development of scholars who can teach and do research that enhance the disciplines and professions. Duke is enriched by our contribution to this effort in Political Science.”

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The American Political Science Association (est. 1903) is the leading professional organization for the study of politics and has over 14,000 members in 80 countries. For more news and information about political science research visit the APSA media website, www.politicalsciencenews.org.