Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science Nominations Closed: Deadline was April 1, 2008

 The nomination period for 2008 for the Rowman & Littlefield Award has ended.  Thank you to everyone who made a nomination. Be sure to attend the APSA Reception Honoring Teaching at the 2008 APSA Meeting in Boston.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers proudly announces the twelfth year of the Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science.  The award, which carries a $500 cash stipend, will be presented at the APSA Reception Honoring Teaching at the 2008 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.

The Innovative Teaching Award recognizes political scientists who have developed effective new approaches to teaching in the discipline. The award seeks to honor a wide range of new directions in teaching, not a particular new direction. Thus, in one year a professor might be chosen because of an innovative course syllabus; in another year a multimedia approach to reaching students might be chosen; in yet another the creator of a simulation or an educational data set might be recognized; and in yet another, the author of a text or monograph that changes the way in which a subject is taught might be tapped.  The only limits on what will be recognized are the imagination and creativity of those teaching political science.

The recipients of the award will be chosen by a five-person committee, chaired by L. Sandy Maisel, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Government and Director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College.  Additional Committee Members will include the APSA Educational, Professional and Minority Initiatives and three members of the association selected by APSA President Pinderhughes.

Nomination Procedure:

The nomination deadline is April 1, 2008. To nominate an individual for the 2008 Rowman and Littlefield Award, please submit a letter of nomination and any supporting documents that best reflect or demonstrate why this individual should be the recipient of the Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science. 

Please send five (5) copies of nomination materials for the Rowman & Littlefield Award, (including any supporting documentation), to:

    L. Sandy Maisel, Department of Government
    Colby College
    Waterville, ME  04901

Professors James Meernik and Kimi King of the University of North Texas were the recipients of the 2007 Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science. James Meernik was on hand at the 2007 APSA Reception Honoring Teaching at the Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, to receive the award.

Students in Professors King and Meernik’s jointly taught study abroad class, International Law: Peace and Justice, engage in three intensive weeks of classes and research at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, The Netherlands. Over the last six years, Meernik and King have arranged for their students to receive unprecedented access to top officials—including two ICTY presidents and 10 of the ICTY judges, attorneys and to tribunal testimony. According to a citation issued by committee chairperson L. Sandy Maisel, “Students at the University of North Texas have a unique opportunity to study the international justice system in action because of the innovative approach you have taken to designing a study abroad experience.”

The 2007 winners were chosen from among a large number of deserving nominees whose teaching techniques in various ways have moved our pedagogy forward.  They were chosen by a committee that was chaired by L. Sandy Maisel of Colby College and that included:  

• Barbara Allen, Carleton College (2005 Rowman and Littlefield Award Recipient) 
• Kimberly A. Mealy, American Political Science Association 
• Charles Prysby, University of North Carolina at Greensboro