Research in Political Science (RiPS) is the political science department's weekly research brownbag. Scholars present ongoing research on topics covering all areas of political science and related fields.
Format
RiPS presentations follow two formats. Attendees are asked to come to the RiPS meeting having read any materials circulated in advance and to be prepared with questions/feedback for the presenter(s).
- Memo. A 1-2 page memo detailing a specific area or obstacle on which the presenter is seeking feedback. Memos will be disseminated on Mondays prior to the RiPS meeting, which will feature two memos for a half-hour each.
- Working Paper. A working paper, draft book/dissertation chapter, or similar product. The meeting begins with a 10-12 minute conference-style presentation before proceeding to Q&A for the remainder of the hour. Working papers will be disseminated on Fridays prior to the RiPS meeting.
Graduate Student Presenters
Graduate students funded by the department who are beyond their first year are added to our regular rotation of presenters. Graduate students are encouraged to register for course credit for their RiPS participation (POLS 893: Political Science Research Workshop).
Current Semester Schedule
RiPS meets most Wednesdays during the academic year at 12:30 p.m. in Oldfather 538.
Fall 2025
| 9/3 | Sophia Stockham |
| 9/10 | Noah Schimenti, "Civil Society and Opposition Seat Share in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes" |
| 9/17 | Makayla Wendland, "Introducing the tracking of terrorist organization splintering (TOTOS) dataset" |
| 9/24 | Alejandra Vasquez, "Informal Economies and the Politics of Trust and Dependence in Colombia" |
| 10/1 | No RiPS |
| 10/8 | Barton, Wals, Park, Mastey, "Read My Lips: The Electoral Advantages of Rhetorical Specificity in Campaign Promises" |
| 10/15 | Alyssa Noe and James Kriz, "Generating Fission: Understanding the Impact of Source Cues on Nuclear Energy" |
| 10/22 | Sophia Stockham, “Peacekeepers and Predators: Gender, Power, and the Politics of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping” |
| 10/29 | Rachel Urban |
| 11/5 | Outside Speaker - TBA |
| 11/12 | Makayla Wendland |
| 11/19 | Noah Schimenti |
| 11/26 | Thanksgiving |
| 12/3 | James Kriz |
| 12/10 | Farook Mujaddidi; Fatima Aigbomian |
Spring 2026
| 1/14 | Emine Alp |
| 1/21 | Zeenat Ahmed |
| 1/28 | Chris Mihal |
| 2/4 | |
| 2/11 | Haoming Xiong |
| 2/18 | Lisa Rohde (Office of Graduate Studies), "Individual Development Plans for Graduate Students" |
| 2/25 | Fiavor, Hillebrecht, Vasquez |
| 3/4 | Jong-Hwan Lee |
| 3/11 | ISA Previews |
| 3/18 | No RiPS - Spring Break |
| 3/25 | Richard Fiavor |
| 4/1 | Aditya Ghalsasi |
| 4/8 | Fatima Aigbomian |
| 4/15 | MPSA Previews |
| 4/22 | First year presentations |
| 4/29 | First year presentations |
Past Schedules
Spring 2025
| 1/22 | Andy Goodhart, "Russian Weaponization of the Culture War Appeals to Politically Marginalized Republicans." |
| 1/29 | John Jostes; Susie Pratt |
| 2/5 | Zeenat Ahmed |
| 2/12 | Farooq Mujaddidi |
| 2/19 | Alejandra Vasquez |
| 2/26 | ISA Previews |
| 3/5 | Sophia Stockham |
| 3/12 | Doyeon Park |
| 3/19 | SPRING BREAK |
| 3/26 | MPSA Previews |
| 4/2 | James Kriz |
| 4/9 | Alyssa Noe and James Kriz |
| 4/14* | Hannah Alarian (Florida) |
| 4/23 | Galia Chimiak (Polish Academy of Sciencs) |
| 4/30 | First-Year Presentations |
| 5/7 | First-Year Presentations |
Fall 2024
| 8/28 | Orientation & Introduction |
| 9/4 | Sukjae Lee, "Legislative Symbiosis: Minority Members’ Legislative Effectiveness and Electoral Motivation" |
| 9/11 | APSA; no RiPS |
| 9/18 | Kylee Britzman (Lewis-Clark State College) & Ben Kantack (Lycoming College), "Ideological Shibboleths: the Case of the 'Democrat Party'" |
| 9/25 | Amanda Gouws (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), “Toward Understanding Condonation of Gender-Based Violence: the Interaction of Patriarchy Values and Contextual Elements of Violence Against Women” (with James Gibson) |
| 10/2 | Makayla Wendland, "Splitting to Survive, Fight, or Ally: Understanding Terrorist Organizational Splintering" |
| 10/9 | Galia Chimiak (Polish Academy of Sciences), "Professional Development: Do's and don'ts of academic publishing & Opportunities for academic cooperation in Poland" |
| 10/16 | Noah Schimenti, "Terrorist Group Alliances: Creating a New Bargaining Space for Peace" (with Makayla R. Wendland and Tom Hammerle) |
| 10/23 | Sergio Wals, “Resilience under Whiteness: Ethnic Homophily in Political Discussion Networks.” (with Ben Kantack and Jeffery Mondak) |
| 10/30 | Alex Hall; Fatima Aigbomian |
| 11/6 | No RiPS - Departmental events |
| 11/13 | No RiPS - Departmental events |
| 11/20 | No RiPS - Departmental events |
| 11/27 | Thanksgiving |
| 12/4 | Rachel Urban, "Water, Conflict, and Transboundary River Basin Organization" |
| 12/11 | Taylor Gold, "Narratives That Persuade: How Narrative Elements Shape Policy Communication and Attitudes in State-Level Decision-Making" |
Spring 2024
| 1/24 | John Jostes and Alejandra Vasquez |
| 1/31 | Sophia Stockham |
| 2/7 | Zeenat Ahmed and Farooq Mujaddidi |
| 2/14 | Sukjae Lee, "Ambivalent Appeals: Republican State Legislators, Electoral Vulnerability, and Climate Change Legislation" |
| 2/21 | Joseph Maestas |
| 2/28 | Ross Miller |
| 3/6 | Fatima Aigbomian |
| 3/13 | Spring Break (No RiPS) |
| 3/20 | MPSA/ISA Previews: Noah Schimenti, Alejandra Vasquez, and Sophia Stockham |
| 3/27 | MPSA/ISA Previews: Fatima Aigbomian and Zeenat Ahmed |
| 4/3 | Out for MPSA/ISA |
| 4/10 | Sergio Wals |
| 4/17 | Dona-Gene Barton |
| 4/24 | Tyler White |
| 5/1 | Geoff Lorenz, “Taking Sides: Party Competition, Interest Group Strategy, and the Polarization of American Pluralism” draft chapter(s?) TBD. |
| 5/8 | First Year Presentations |
Contact
Faculty coordinator Dr. Andrew Goodhart can add you to the RiPS listserv and answer questions.