University of Iowa Department of Political Science

08/24/2026

After a summer spent studying goose-vernment, reviewing public policy, and perfecting her parliamentary honk-cedures, Gertie is excited to get back to campus for another semester of Poli Sci adventures.

Gertie's Fall 2026 Schedule:
🕗 8:00 AM — Introduction to Goose-vernment
🕙 10:00 AM — Comparative Pond Politics
🕛 12:00 PM — Lunch & Lobbying for Extra Breadcrumbs
🕑 2:00 PM — Constitutional Honk Law
🕓 4:00 PM — Advanced Migration Policy

Gertie is also excited to welcome all her new followers! Whether you've been part of the flock from the beginning or just joined, thanks for following along with her campus adventures.

🏛️🪿 Here's to a semester of learning, leadership, and keeping the goose-vernment in session!

🍁📖🪿

08/21/2026

How does a place become a symbol of history?

As preparation for his Outliers course (POLI:3426), Professor Ron McMullen traveled to Bosnia this summer to explore how history, memory, and identity shape political life.

📍 In Sarajevo, he visited the corner where Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, an event that sparked World War I (Photo 1). He also visited Princip's burial site, where he and his co-conspirators are memorialized as "Heroes" in a Serbian Orthodox chapel and mausoleum (Photo 2).

📍 McMullen also explored Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympic bobsled track overlooking the city (Photo 3). Just a decade later, during the Siege of Sarajevo, nearby positions were used by Serb forces to target the city. He visited the market where a 1994 mortar attack killed more than 60 civilians, now marked by a red-painted memorial at the impact site (Photo 4).

📍 In Banja Luka, capital of the Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-majority entity, McMullen examined how competing historical narratives continue to shape the region (Photo 5). He visited a memorial honoring 26,000 Army of the Republika Srpska soldiers who died during the Bosnian War of the 1990s (Photo 6).

Through firsthand experiences at these historic sites, McMullen brings complex questions of conflict, memory, and political identity into the classroom.

08/20/2026

✨ Student Spotlight: Sean Keene

Sean Keene has made the most of his University of Iowa experience, studying abroad in Spain, Chile, France, and Italy while pursuing degrees in political science, journalism and mass communication, and Spanish. His recent internship in Rome reinforced a simple lesson: the best learning happens when you step outside your comfort zone and immerse yourself in new experiences.

As Keene puts it, "Do it. Plain and simple. Do it." His advice to students considering study abroad: explore boldly, embrace challenges, and discover the growth that comes from experiencing the world firsthand. 🌍✈️

https://tinyurl.com/CLAS-StudyAbroad

08/17/2026

Congratulations to Professor Seongjoon Ahn on his impactful research!

Professor Ahn spent the summer conducting research in South Korea and Taiwan, examining how citizens understand and give meaning to democracy in societies shaped by historical memory and ongoing geopolitical tensions. Specializing in American politics, democracy, and public opinion, his work advanced understanding of how democratic values are interpreted and experienced across different political and cultural contexts.

We congratulate Professor Ahn on this important work and look forward to the insights and contributions resulting from his research.

https://tinyurl.com/CLASHumanities-2026

08/14/2026

👏 Faculty & Graduate News!
Congratulations to Professor Sara Mitchell, Professor Elise Pizzi, and Graduate Student Adam Lappe on their new publication in International Studies Quarterly.

This article examines how border locations and territorial disputes affect disaster response, finding that disasters in contested border regions receive more aid from governments, militaries, and international actors, while disaster assistance often declines after border disputes are peacefully resolved.

https://tinyurl.com/IntStudQuarterly-2026

08/13/2026

🚨🎓 Back-to-School Poli Sci Swag Sale! 🎓🚨

Gear up for the new semester with your favorite Political Science swag! We're offering a special Back to School Sale on Poli Sci sweatshirts and ballcaps.

✅ Limited inventory
✅ Limited sizes available
✅ Show your Poli Sci pride all semester long

Don't wait, once sizes are gone, they're gone!

🛍️ Order online: tinyurl.com/poligear-online

08/12/2026

This introductory workshop will cover the fundamentals of Social Network Analysis, including key concepts such as density and transitivity, as well as descriptive and inferential techniques like community detection used to understand and analyze networks.

💻 All coding activities will be completed in R. Familiarity with R is encouraged but not required.

🎓 The workshop will be led by Dr. Elizabeth Menninga, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa. Her research develops and applies social network methods to the study of international conflict, and she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in research methodology.

🔗 Register here: https://events.uiowa.edu/event/38382

08/11/2026

This fall, ICFRC presents Voices into Votes: Why Turnout Matters Here, There, and Now.

As the 2026 U.S. midterm elections approach, we are bringing together scholars, journalists, democracy advocates, election experts, and public officials for five free community programs examining how elections work, who participates, what voters can trust, and what strengthens or weakens democracy.

Across the series, we will explore propaganda and disinformation, democratic backsliding, freedom of the press, voting access and participation, election integrity, representation, and practical approaches to building greater public confidence in our electoral system.

Programs take place September 11 through October 23 at the Iowa City Public Library and University of Iowa Old Capitol Senate Chamber.

All programs are free and open to the public.

Learn more and register: https://www.icfrc.org/series-voices-into-votes

Please help us spread the word throughout Iowa City, Johnson County, the University of Iowa, and the wider Eastern Iowa community.

Iowa City Public Library, The City of Iowa City Government, Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, University of Iowa International Programs, University of Iowa Department of Political Science University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Hawk The Vote, Stanley Center for Peace and Security, World Press Institute, League of Women Voters Johnson County Iowa, Iowa United Nations Association, Veterans for Peace Iowa, Humanities Iowa, Iowa Economic Development Authority, The Daily Iowan, Iowa Public Radio, Greater Iowa City, Inc.

08/11/2026

Congratulations to Professor Case!
How do congressional candidates communicate their priorities to voters? University of Iowa political scientist Colin Case is helping answer that question through CampaignView, a free public database that tracks campaign messaging from more than 5,000 U.S. House primary candidates and includes over 43,000 policy positions on issues like health care, immigration, and climate change.

CampaignView serves as a powerful resource for researchers, journalists, and voters alike, offering a historical record of candidates' promises and positions. Case also uses the data to study political ideology, partisanship, and bipartisan messaging in Congress. Learn how CampaignView is advancing research and helping us better understand American politics.

See the full article:

Colin Case, assistant professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a CSSI researcher affiliate, co-leads CampaignView, a free, publicly available database and research tool that sheds light on how primary candidates seeking seats in the U.S. Congress communicate...

08/05/2026

Congratulations to Mayra Gomez on being awarded the Leona Zaharis Scholarship for Fall 2026! https://tinyurl.com/F26-LeonaZaharisScholarship