Yearly Archive: 2015

From French lit to biotech regulation…

Inevitably when people find out I started a PhD in French literature before switching to political science, I hear: “You were a lit major? How’d you end up here?” In my mind, the route from French to political science is actually very clear! But sometimes I come across an article that helps me explain it better. Carl Zimmer reported in The New York Times last week on how the “Editing of Pig DNA May Lead to More Organs for People.” Zimmer writes about a new method for editing genes, called Crispr, that presents the possibility of altering pig DNA in a way that would allow doctors to successfully transplant pig organs into humans. Andrew Pollack has discussed Crispr and its…

#IRiA #SocialMedia

As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been writing about my Topics in International Politics for the Active Learning in Political Science site. My first posts examined the structure of the IRiA Simulation and how I evaluated its use in my course. After the first round in Spring 2014, I reconfigured the assignments for the course based on student feedback. While they were enthusiastic about the course and sim, the students reported that there was a bit of a disconnect between the first half of the course – structured around lectures, discussion, and in-class activities – and the second half in which we played the game. As a result, I was motivated to restructure the course calendar and to redesign…

Biopolitics & Utopia: An Interdisciplinary Reader

It’s finally here! I’m very excited to announce that my most recent edited collection, Biopolitics and Utopia: An Interdisciplinary Reader, is now out from Palgrave Macmillan. Andrew Byers, a visiting assistant professor in History at Duke University, and I worked hard on bringing together an excellent group of contributors from the US, Canada, Malaysia, and Australia. The project grew out of a panel Andrew and I put together for the Society for Utopian Studies Conference in 2013. The focus of the panel was “Biopolitics and Utopian/Dystopian Politics”. For readers looking to understand what we mean by “biopolitics”, we think of the concept as the strategies pursued and the actions taken by the state to control its citizens at the “level…

Experiential Learning in STEP

I’ve unfortunately had little time to keep up with research-related blogposts, in part because of all the research I’ve been doing! But I’ve also been busy with some amazing teaching opportunities. In the last six months, I’ve had the chance to participate in experiential learning and project-based learning programs with WPI students in San Cristobal, Guatemala, and London, England. I’m currently the Associate Editor of the bimonthly newsletter, STEP Ahead, for the Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics Section of APSA, and I wrote about my experience in Guatemala and reflections on experiential learning for our March edition, which I’m sharing below. More will follow on the London trip! ~~~~~ Experiential learning may seem like just another buzzword among higher education…