Home  › 2008 RBSI Dates: June 1-July 3, 2008

About the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute

Named in honor of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner and former APSA President, Ralph J. Bunche, the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) program goal is to encourage students to pursue academic careers in political science by helping to:

• Enhance participants' writing, research, and analytical skills and make them more competitive applicants for graduate school admissions and financial assistance;
• Improve the students' use of computers for statistical analysis of research data used in the study of political science;
• Expose interested and engaged students to issues in the discipline and profession of political science;
• Introduce participants to leading political scientists;
• Inform promising students about political science career opportunities and encourage applications to Ph.D. programs in political science.

Each summer, the Institute provides 20 students with a look at the world of graduate study with a program of two transferable credit courses, one in  one in quantitative analysis and one in race and American politics, which introduce the intellectual demands of graduate school and political science research methods.  For a final project for both courses, students prepare original, empirical research papers, and top students are given the opportunity to present their research at APSA's Annual Meeting, with all expenses paid by the association.

Classes are held on the Duke University campus, where students have access to a fully equipped computer laboratory, library collections, and other university facilities. Educational activities range from formal classroom settings to informal dinners and lunches with prominent political scientists and Duke University faculty. A strong ethics component is included with readings, cases, debates, and lectures on issues within an academic setting.

RBSI Director Paula McClain, Professor of Political Science, and Professor of Public Policy and African and African American Studies at Duke University, teaches classes along with other colleagues from Duke University. Bunche students have uniformly praised the exceptional mentoring that they receive from Dr. McClain and other Bunche faculty.

Since good performance on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is key to admission to and funding for graduate school, Graduate Record Exam test-taking strategies are provided by Princeton Review.

At the end of the Institute, representatives from a number of leading Ph.D. granting institutions come from across the country to participate in a recruitment fair. They visit with Bunche students, provide information about their doctoral programs, and discuss admissions concerns with the students.

For the duration of the Institute, RBSI provides full support of tuition, health insurance, transportation, room and board in a dormitory double room, books, and instructional materials. Participants will also receive an allocation for food expenses, in addition to a weekly stipend. 

Who is Eligible for the APSA Ralph Bunche Program?

The program targets students from racial/ethnic groups that are significantly underrepresented in science in the United States, e.g. African American, Latino/a, Native American, and Pacific Island students. All students who are members of these groups, or who are interested in broadening participation in political science by students from underrepresented minority populations and pursuing scholarship on issues affecting under-represented groups, are eligible to apply.

Applicants must be:

• United States citizens.
• Completing their junior year of undergraduate study.
• Majoring in political science or a related discipline.
• Have an interest in attending graduate school in political science.

Application Process

Participants in the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute are drawn from a competitive national applicant pool. The RBSI Selection Committee reviews applications and will make decisions by early spring sememster. Applicants will be informed of their status via email.

Questions? Please direct any questions about the program to Shaunda Ragland, sragland@apsanet.org, or call 202-483-2512.

Program News and Highlights

• 2009 Annual Meeting RBSI Poster Presentations 
  
• APSA Seeks RBSI Alumni!
  APSA hopes to enhance the unique  mentoring and networking opportunities available among alumni by including this group in social networking opportunities and news updates.  Please help us develop this by providing your input to a brief survey at www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB225CKP9SNZR 
  
• Mentor These Exceptional Future Political Scientists
  Mentor a recently graduated RBSI student and advise them on issues related to graduate school admissions, financial aid, career tracks, and issues facing minority individuals in the profession. New mentors should select the appropriate field on the Mentor Database Information document.  Current mentors may update their database record by contacting mentoring@apsanet.org.

Operations and Funding

Since 2000, the Bunche Institute has been hosted and co-sponsored by Duke University, under the direction of Professor Paula D. McClain. The RBSI is also supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is considered an REU Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Site.The American Political Science Association provides additional operational support and funding.

In 2009, Dr. Paula D. McClain, Duke University 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, was been awarded an REU grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $404,000 over three years. Provost Peter Lange, of Duke University had this to say about Dr. McClain and the RBSI's contribution to the discipline of political science and Duke University:

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, 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, and her colleagues, 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.