The inaugural APSA Conference on Teaching and Learning in Political Science brought 40 political scientists from around the country to Washington, D.C., to share their ideas and models of teaching and learning. Hosted by American University from February 19–21, the conference entailed four thematic tracks: Pedagogy and Technology, Civic Education and Service Learning, Student Assessment and Learning Outcomes, and Global Perspectives and Diversity. Summaries of each track's work follows. For more information on this and future APSA Conferences on Teaching and Learning, visit www.apsanet.org/tlc/ or contact Linda Lopez at llopez@apsanet.org.

Service-learning and civic education have become popular pedagogical themes as higher education attempts to embody diversity and innovation in our teaching models. This trend, however, has resulted in disagreement over the means by which service-learning and the civic education theme should be incorporated into the classroom. Some educators have sought to jump on the bandwagon without really attempting to learn exactly what these tools entail, resulting in a diffusion of their effectiveness.

From February 19-21, 2004 the inaugural APSA Teaching and Learning Conference was held at American University in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized to emulate the “European” model of a conference, where a set of working groups (or “tracks”) were convened to work on one of four issue areas that the conference program committee considered important to the political science discipline. The tracks were not designed to follow the standard political science conference format where individual papers were presented and a “discussant” commented on the papers, leaving five minutes at the end for general discussion. Rather, the tracks were working groups, where each individual presented over two days with the papers discussed by the group collectively, not to fete out criticisms, but to build on presented themes. The groups then made recommendations to a plenary session at the end of the conference, suggesting what APSA as a professional association could do to facilitate advances in each of the four issue areas.

Combining the presentations on diversity and global perspectives turned out to be very productive. We discovered a natural affinity between the conference's goal of creating a collaborative teaching and learning environment that bridges the cosmopolitan and local knowledge teachers and students bring together in the classroom and the substance of what we wanted students to learn about diversity within and among countries in a period of accelerating globalization. While the contexts and stakes could not be more different, the challenges of combining a professor's “cosmopolitan knowledge” with students' “local knowledge” are theoretically analogous to the political challenges of honoring the local knowledge that grows out of our diversity while simultaneously nurturing a more shared, cosmopolitan knowledge that can connect us in mutually acceptable ways. Put differently, when it comes to understanding the politics of diversity and globalization, the classroom can be used both as an example and as an application of political theory. Working within this broad theme, we discussed a variety of very specific ideas to promote collaborative and active learning about diversity and world politics.

Anew assistant professor of political science, who we shall call “Dr. Politics,” stands at the door of the exhibit hall at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association gazing at the crowds gathering at the booths of the leading publishers of scholarly work in political science. Dr. Politics' dissertation has been finished, defended, and filed with the graduate school. The dissertation committee members have told Dr. Politics that the dissertation is but one revision away from being a completed book manuscript that will be attractive to many academic presses. Dr. Politics' prestigious department requires at least one published book and one on the way for tenure. The chair expects the first book to be a revised version of the dissertation. How does Dr. Politics navigate the new world of publishing?

The following essay aims to consolidate the learnings of a year-long internship at The Review of Politics, during which time the author read and wrote reports on some hundred articles submitted to the journal.

Asian Americans have received relatively little attention from political scientists. Although a rapidly growing segment of the population, their political behaviors, impacts on political institutions, and the policies affecting them have been rarely studied in our discipline.

Frank R. Baumgartner, professor, political science department, Pennsylvania State University, will spend the 2004–2005 academic year on sabbatical leave at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy and at Science Po in Paris, France.

Jonathan Bendor, Walter and Elise Haas Professor of Political Economics and Organizations, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, was appointed a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Michael Berkman, associate professor, political science department, Pennsylvania State University, will spend the fall 2004 semester on sabbatical leave completing a book on educational politics.

Avery Leiserson died February 14, 2004, at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife, Roxy, of Nashville, Tennessee; three sons, Michael of Spokane, Washington, John of Winchester, Massachusetts, and Alan of Nashville; and a daughter, Nancy Welles of New York.

William V. O'Brien, Professor of Government Emeritus at Georgetown University, died on July 8, 2003, at his home in Washington of head injuries suffered in a fall.

It is with the deepest regret that I report the death on January 15, 2004, of Wilma L. Rule who collaborated with me on a number of research projects relating to the election of women and members of certain minority groups to elective office in the United States and other nations. She was a long-time member and secretary-treasurer of the Section on Representation and Electoral Systems of The American Political Science Association whose members continue to appreciate her research and service to the profession.

On January 17, 2004, our friend and colleague, Jim Townsend, died peacefully in the midst of his family after a long illness. For many years a leading figure among China scholars, Jim received his Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in 1965. He was a member of the political science department at Berkeley between 1963 and 1968 when he moved to the University of Washington. He remained at the University of Washington until he retired prematurely in 1992 after a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Defying the odds, he continued to live a happy and productive life for more than a decade after his retirement, a decade during which he saw his beloved wife Sandy Perry through her own losing battle with breast cancer.

The Association's 2004 Nominating Committee convened at the national office and agreed upon the following slate of officers and Council members. Members of the Association will have an opportunity to meet the nominees at the 2004 Annual Meeting in Chicago. Elections will be held at the Business Meeting. The Annual Meeting Final Program will have the room location for each event.

Marion Orr, Brown University

Marion Orr is professor of political science at Brown University. He previously was a member of the political science faculty at Duke University. He earned his B.A. degree in political science from Savannah State College, M.A. in political science from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University), and a Ph.D. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is affiliated with the Urban Studies Program and the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University.

APSA celebrates its 100th Annual Meeting in 2004, returning to Chicago, site of the first Association gathering. Be sure to join us for this exciting meeting taking place September 2–5, 2004, and headquartered at the Hilton Chicago and Palmer House Hilton hotels.

Recognizing excellence in the profession is one APSA's most important activities. Continuing the tradition set in 2003, Program co-chairs Atul Kohli and Anne Norton will host the APSA Awards Luncheon and Ceremony. The event will take place from 12:00–2:00 pm on Thursday, September 2. Nineteen awards will be given in categories for dissertations, books, papers, articles, and career achievement. For the first time, the Frank J. Goodnow Award will also be presented at this event. The luncheon is a ticketed event, though the ceremony is open to all attendees. The event is made possible through the generous support of the Policy Studies Organization.

The APSA Council met April 17, 2004, at the Midwest Political Science Association's Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The following are highlights from the meeting:

“Equal political voice and democratically responsive government are widely cherished American ideals. Indeed, the United States is vigorously promoting democracy abroad. Yet, what is happening to democracy at home? Our country's ideals of equal citizenship and responsive government may be under growing threat in an era of persistent and rising inequalities. Disparities of income, wealth, and access to opportunity are growing more sharply in the United States than in many other nations, and gaps between races and ethnic groups persist. Progress toward realizing American ideals of democracy may have stalled, and in some arenas reversed.”

The American Political Science Association is pleased to announce the class for the 2004 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. The Institute is in its 18th year of operation and will again be hosted by Duke University. The Selection Committee for the 2004 class included Paula McClain, director of RBSI, and other members of Duke University faculty: Scott DeMarche, Kerry Haynie, John Aldrich, and John Transue. Twenty outstanding students, representing diverse institutions all over the country, will participate in this summer's program, scheduled for June 6-July 8.

APSA has opened the search process for a successor to Perspectives on Politics Editor Jennifer Hochschild of Harvard University. Applications and nominations are sought for an editor or editorial team of Perspectives, published quarterly by APSA. Perspectives is a general political science journal that draws on rigorous, broad-based research and integrative thinking to provide insight on significant political matters. The journal seeks to capture the excitement and diversity of good political science research and apply it to contemporary politics.